UPDATE, MAY 14, 2025: A Broward County jury has awarded $806,067.54 to a yacht broker who claimed the right to commission on a nearly $15-million megayacht. “This verdict sends a clear message that brokers need to be compensated for procuring a transaction,” Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan and attorney Williams Lewis, representing the broker, say. “For nearly two years, our client dedicated significant time and resources to procure the sale of this luxury yacht, only to be cut out during the late stages of the transaction.”
Read on for our original article.
A yacht broker has filed a lawsuit against a client and Baglietto. He claims the two circumvented verbal agreements under which he would receive a commission.
According to court records, the client is Miki Naftali, a real estate developer in New York. He owns a 130-footer (39.5-meter) in build at Baglietto. Scott Goldsworthy, an Allied Marine broker, claims he has been Naftali’s broker for six years. Morgan & Morgan, the law firm representing Goldsworthy, states he is due a $725,000 commission, representing five percent of the yacht purchase price of $14.5 million.
In his complaint, filed in Florida, Goldsworthy claims Naftali wanted him to be his broker for a new custom yacht, starting in 2016. Previously, Goldsworthy had represented him for other yacht acquisitions and sales. In addition, Goldsworthy says that Naftali verbally agreed to a five-percent commission.
From 2016 to late 2017, the two met several times to outline specifications, pricing, and potential shipyards. Goldsworthy states that he and Naftali narrowed the shipyards down to Baglietto, Cantiere delle Marche, and Rossinavi. Baglietto accepted the bid proposal between the summer and fall of 2017. However, he claims that prior to contract signing, Naftali and Baglietto “collectively decided to exclude Goldsworthy from the contract.” He adds that the two decided to “deny him his commission even though the parties knew he was the procuring cause of the sale.” Goldsworthy further claims the oral agreement for the commission was with both Naftali and Baglietto, and that “numerous emails” with Naftali, Baglietto’s CEO, the naval architect, and interior designer confirmed it. Under Florida law, oral agreements have similar validity to written contracts.
Additionally, in response to a related lawsuit from Naftali in New York, Goldsworthy filed a motion to dismiss. Naftali requested a declaratory judgment that no commission is due. In his motion, Goldsworthy recounts the alleged meetings between the two, plus details outlined above. He additionally states that Michele Gavino, Baglietto’s CEO, agreed to the commission. Gavino allegedly mentioned this during a meeting with Goldsworthy, Naftali, and a project manager in Fort Lauderdale in 2016.
Naftali tells a different story. In his lawsuit, in 2016, Goldsworthy recommended that Naftali consider buying a trideck motoryacht in the 131-foot (40-meter) size range. The two then conducted meetings stateside and abroad with several shipyards. Some of the meetings involved Baglietto and Gavino. However, his legal team asserts that “Naftali never entered into a written agreement with Defendant in connection with his potential acquisition.” Furthermore, Naftali says he stopped working with Goldsworthy in late 2016.
In addition, Naftali’s team claim that Gavino reached out directly to Naftali in June 2017 to discuss projects in build. Later that year, the filing adds, the two began negotiations for a raised-pilothouse motoryacht. In January 2018, Club-M Yachting, a company which Naftali owns, signed an agreement with Baglietto for a yacht. “Defendant played no role in Plaintiffs’ construction of the Raised Pilot House Project,” Naftali’s filing states. “Accordingly, Defendant is not entitled to any sales commission in connection with Plaintiffs’ construction of a yacht.”
All parties are due in New York Supreme Court in early October. No hearing date is yet set for Goldsworthy’s lawsuit in Florida.
Following published reports, Baglietto issued a written statement. “Baglietto, by means of its CEO, Michele Gavino, wishes to point out that the company has not taken part in any illicit action taken by the subjects mentioned.” The statement continues, “In particular, Baglietto wants to point out that they have always conducted themselves and will continue to do so in a professional and ethical manner towards both the Owner and the brokerage community. Thus, Baglietto reserves the right to defend its behavior and reputation in any qualified office.”
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