But the price tag for the wholesale makeover always loomed overhead. While the commercial real estate market around the Pyramid was cratering due to the pandemic<\/a>, Shvo and his investors paid top-dollar for a project as if they were operating in a different world \u2014\u00a0a characterization he embraced. \u201cI have the No.1 building in San Francisco,\u201d Shvo told The Standard<\/a> when his audacity was the toast of the town. \u201cWe\u2019re creating a product that is unique and expensive,\u201d he said. \u201cThe people who can afford it happen to be at the top of their industries. That\u2019s the inherent DNA of the Shvo universe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He gave the same pitch to his investors \u2014\u00a0Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK), Germany\u2019s largest public pension group, and Deutsche Finance, a private equity real estate investor \u2014 when he met them in 2018, after pleading guilty to tax evasion (opens in new tab)<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the time, interest rates were low and office demand was high, so the German entities were keen on buying more U.S. real estate. Shvo convinced them he was the man to do the deals. Together, they embarked on a two-year buying spree, spending nearly $3 billion on trophy assets such as the \u201cBig Red\u201d skyscraper in Chicago, the Raleigh Hotel in Miami, the Coca-Cola building in New York, and finally, the crown of San Francisco: the Transamerica Pyramid.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shvo justified the purchases, and the subsequent spending on exquisite renovations, by explaining that his investors were in it for the long haul. They would not be swayed by turbulence in the real estate market. He deflected questions about profitability by pointing to record-breaking leases, the new restaurants that were coming<\/a>, and praise from local officials (opens in new tab)<\/a> in San Francisco for reinvigorating the iconic building.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve created an unbelievable income stream,\u201d Shvo said of the Pyramid.\u00a0<\/p>\n What he didn\u2019t say was that his relationship with the Germans had been splintering for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n It started in 2020 when his former friend and business partner Serdar Bilgili \u2014 who had introduced him to the Germans \u2014\u00a0wrote a letter to BVK\u2019s head of real estate, Rainer Komenda. Bilgili warned that Shvo had a penchant for overcharging on fees and using investment dollars for personal leisure. Shvo has denied those allegations.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to reports in the German media (opens in new tab)<\/a>, that letter was suppressed by Komenda until he was dismissed by BVK last summer. The letter only came to light during a lawsuit he filed against his former employer for wrongful termination.\u00a0<\/p>\n By 2023, the same year construction workers began remodeling the Transamerica Pyramid, BVK started slowing down its investment in Shvo\u2019s projects. The group halted new investments, although additional money was spent to maintain existing assets. During this time, it became clear that sales at his luxury condo projects in Beverly Hills and Manhattan were slower than what he had advertised to his investors, back when he convinced them to spend on lavish launch parties with celebrity appearances.\u00a0<\/p>\n Things eroded further in 2024 when Shvo was sued<\/a> by Core Club, alleging fraud. The elite, members-only club, based in the Coca-Cola building in New York, had signed a deal to open another club in Shvo\u2019s Pyramid. The location never opened, and the parties remain locked in overlapping lawsuits.\u00a0<\/p>\n That same summer, BVK commissioned an internal report that identified several compliance violations pertaining to business dealings with Shvo. The documents, which were read aloud in a German court, detail \u201cinappropriate close relationships among individual actors\u201d that suggest conflicts of interest across the partnership. Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg recently reported (opens in new tab)<\/a> that those relationships included a younger relative of Komenda who had internships at Deutsche Finance and Shvo\u2019s eponymous firm.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last year, several of Deutsche Finance and BVK\u2019s investments with Shvo started coming up bust. First, the Raleigh Hotel was sold (opens in new tab)<\/a> while renovations were still underway. Another project at 9200 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills sold for a massive discount (opens in new tab)<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n By the time the numbers had been tallied up, which include ongoing operating expenses across the U.S. investments, BVK told its 2.7 million pension holders that it expected more than $1 billion in losses. More of Shvo\u2019s intermediaries with the Germans would soon depart, including Komenda\u2019s boss, Norman Fackelmann, and Deutsche Finance exec Jason Lucas, who was listed on many of the joint venture deals with Shvo.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a letter dated Jan. 19 of this year, BVK told its members the losses were due to \u201ceconomic challenges\u201d associated with losses, as well as \u201cproject partners\u201d that \u201cdid not meet expectations placed upon them.\u201d As a result, the pension fund was \u201csystematically work[ing] through\u201d investments made between 2018 and 2020, the period when Shvo guided BVK leaders to purchase multiple properties.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772031010_13_-S3840x2561-FPNG.png\"\/)
Deutsche Finance America, with financing from BVK, purchased the Transamerica Pyramid for $650 million. | Source: Camille Cohen\/The Standard<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1772031010_373_-S3840x2561-FPNG.png\"\/)
Shvo said his admiration for the Transamerica Pyramid started when he visited San Francisco with his parents as a child. <\/p>\n