The Triumph Airfield in Canaan, Conn., owned by Ryan Salame, includes a turf runway that parallels the Housatonic River. It’s on the market for $2 million.
CANAAN, Conn. — At the height of a career federal investigators say was little more than a pyramid scheme, cryptocurrency financier Ryan Salame had big plans for the local airfield he bought for $1.2 million in 2021 and named Triumph.
Now the 65-acre property is for sale for $2 million and a group of interested buyers, including airplane owners, are looking to pool their resources so this time it’s locally owned.
It’s a steep price, however.
It isn’t just that the real estate market has added value to the property, pilot and unofficial airport manager Billy Segalla said Wednesday. The asking price reflects about $500,000 in improvements made under Salame’s ownership.
“He tore down a bungalow and replaced it with a modular house,” Segalla said. “Then he built a new hangar where three planes can be stored. … He upped the game.”
A pilot and native of Sandisfield, the 29-year-old Salame’s list of assets reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice for forfeiture did not include the airport. It did list properties and restaurants in Lenox, a Porsche sports car and an executive jet Salame has a license to pilot.
His purchase from Larry R. Smith of Lyme, N.H., was a distraction from ventures that include $6 million in restaurant space in the Berkshires.
The turf runway that parallels the Housatonic River is long by small air strip standards at 3,100 feet, but not long enough for Salame to land his own plane here. It’s enough to have hooked many young pilots on the thrill of flying.
Segalla got his first taste of flying at the age of 6 here, on the airstrip his father built. It launched a 35-year career as an air show pilot and mentor to generations of young people.
“A lot of pilots have started out here,” Segalla said, who noted jobs for pilots moving everything from people to freight are in demand and paying well.
Negotiations to buy the airport were launched shortly after the property hit the market Nov. 11 and are still in the initial stages, said Segalla, who declined to name any of the participants who approached him with the idea. All are either pilots or have an interest in aviation. Concerns that a deal might be struck with a developer are tempered by Salame’s pledge to sell it to an aviation-minded buyer.
“We’re also looking for grant money,” he said.
The broker listing the property as “ready to go” is Lisa Bouchard of Ghent (N.Y.) TKG Real Estate, who did not return phone calls.
Crypto CEO Ryan Salame handled a $30 million Bahamas property deal this year through an FTX subsidiary
Salame, often photographed wearing designer suits and dark glasses, was a senior executive for crypto exchange FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. He was paid $87 million in bonuses and loans for his work, money he used to buy real estate and a lavish lifestyle. Federal prosecutors say he violated campaign finance laws to boost causes supported by his boss and involved FTX in illegal bank transactions, many of them in the Bahamas.
When the cryptocurrency empire crumbled, $8 million in deposits were gone.
Bankman-Fried was convicted of felony fraud in November and faces decades in prison when he is sentenced next year.
Free on $1 million bond, Salame will be sentenced in March to up to 10 years in prison in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He has agreed to pay $6 million to the feds and $5.6 million in restitution to FTX debtors. He also must forfeit two properties, a business and the porsche, but not Triumph, which he is free to sell.
Salame’s attorney, Jason Linder, said he does not speak to the media.