» Defeated Greene excited over Democrats’ choice of Gillum,

Billionaire spent $34.8M on gubernatorial run.

PALM BEACH — Billionaire Palm Beach real estate investor Jeff Greene sounded genuinely excited late Tuesday night by rival Andrew Gillum‘s stunning upset victory in the Florida Democratic primary for governor.

Greene, who finished a distant fourth in the gubernatorial primary with 10 percent of the vote, said he concluded about a week and a half ago that he wasn’t going to win. But he figured former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham would take the nomination.

“I’m thrilled at the outcome ... I’ve always felt that if I couldn’t be the Democratic nominee my second choice would absolutely be Andrew Gillum,” Greene told The Palm Beach Post.

“He absolutely was the best speaker among all of us, me included. And I think Gwen Graham was the worst speaker among all of us. I think she was the worst candidate,” Greene said.

Greene said he and Gillum agreed on most issues.

“I really felt that Andrew and I were the true progressives,” Greene said.

But Greene conceded that his $3.3 billion net worth made him a tough sell to the Bernie Sanders wing of the party.

“Even though I have these beliefs, it’s very hard for someone with my status today as a billionaire to get support from progressives. It was a real challenge ... I don’t think progressives like billionaires,” Greene said.

Greene said his campaign never recovered from TV ads run by former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine that used a clip of Greene, the day after the 2016 election, calling Donald Trump a “great guy.”

Greene said the clip was taken out of context from an interview in which he outlined differences with Trump but said he hoped his presidency would succeed.

“The mistake I made was I probably should have come out the next day talking into the camera and describing what the conversation really was,” Greene said.

But, he added, “The way the election turned out, I don’t think it would have mattered.”

On the campaign trail, Greene floated the possibility of spending $200 million on the governor’s race if he were the nominee and helping other Democrats on the ticket. He has made contributions to several candidates, and said he’ll take a look at key races in the coming weeks.

“I’ll continue to support people ... if I see where I can make a difference,” Greene said.

Greene ended up spending $34.8 million on his campaign.

“It was a lot of money, even for a rich guy like me,” said Greene. Still he said, “I have a great life, and I don’t regret it.”