Pingree Ex Seeks State Approval to Build Massive Seawall to Protect Deer Isle Estate

Hedge fund tycoon S. Donald Sussman – who once took an ownership stake in the ailing Portland Press Herald – wants government approval to put a seawall up along the shore of his $2.5 million Deer Isle estate.

Sussman, 78, one of the two ex-husbands of Maine First District Democrat U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, has owned the pricey Hancock County property since 1994.

He lent the state’s largest newspaper $3.5 million in 2012 to keep it from going in the tank and then became a majority owner.

State records disclose that Sussman wants permission to build a 320-foot seawall – longer than a football field – along the shore of his sprawling mansion’s 25-acre property at 468 Reach Road.

Without the wall, he’s afraid erosion along the oceanic shoreline will result in the inevitable loss of his property.

In his environmental application to the state for the building the seawall lists, Sussman lists his residence as Fort Lauderdale, Florida, meaning he only uses the multi-million-dollar Deer Isle property part-time.

Sussman’s connection to Pingree, herself a Minneapolis native, predated by five years his bailout of the financially-troubled (ring a bell?) Portland Press Herald.

At the time that he wrote the big check, Sussman said he’d been approached by The Portland Newspaper Guild, which convinced him that the newspapers were at risk of closing without a quick cash infusion.

“That was unthinkable to me,” Sussman said then. “A community’s newspaper says a lot about the importance it places on education, democracy and working together to get things done.”

He vowed at the time to have nothing to do with editorial policy.

But Sussman had long supported liberal Democrat policies – and despite contending he would have nothing to do with editorial policy once he bailed out the paper, the loan agreement allowed him a five percent equity stake in the company and a seat on the board of directors.

Within a month, his equity ownership had increased to 75 percent of the company, effectively putting him in charge.

Though he had donated millions of dollars to charitable causes before he and Pingree become an item, Sussman’s name became high profile during Pingree’s re-election campaign in 2010.

His engagement to the congresswoman at the time drew fire from critics due to his liberal politics.

Although he has been identified in media reports as being a billionaire, Sussman declined to specify his net worth, saying only that “it’s substantial,” according to the Press Herald’s 2012 account of the cash infusion to the paper.

Sussman married Pingree in 2011 in a private ceremony at the then-couple’s home on North Haven.

They had met in 2007, and got engaged in 2008. Their marriage lasted five years.

In 2015, Pingree announced an “amicable and truly mutual decision” to end their marriage.

It was also in 2015 that the Press Herald was sold to Reade Brower, who then sold it just 18 months ago to the National Trust for Local News.

Once again the paper seems to be on financial thin ice.

Since buying the paper, the trust has made budget cuts, including ousting several freelance writers.

Several top-level managers of the subsidiary Maine Trust for Local News have also resigned in addition to the national trust’s founder leaving the “nonprofit” company.

Editor’s Note: Ted Cohen is long-time former staffer of the Portland Press Herald.