Even during a pandemic, this past year saw the ultra-rich swap estates at a blistering pace.
Some of the country’s wealthiest people, including Jeff Bezos, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg all closed huge deals in 2020, taking advantage of historically low interest rates and a widening wealth gap that saw their fortunes skyrocket even higher .
In a historic year for luxury real estate, California saw its all-time price record shattered.
More than 200 homes traded hands for more than $10 million, and two sold for over $100 million. In the long-ago days of 2019, the $10-million-plus market fell well short of 200 deals. (The exact numbers are fuzzy because so many high-dollar transactions happen away from the Multiple Listing Service.)
Here’s a look at Southern California’s priciest home sales in 2020.
$165 million — Jeff Bezos
The world’s richest man flexed his wealth in February, as Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos dropped $165 million on David Geffen’s famed Warner estate in Beverly Hills. The mammoth sale obliterated California’s all-time price record, which was set in 2019 by Lachlan Murdoch’s $150-million purchase of the “Beverly Hillbillies” mansion in Bel-Air.
The nine-acre estate offers a world of its own, with a golf course, tennis court and pool all surrounding a Georgian-style mansion erected in the 1930s for movie mogul Jack Warner. The purchase was the latest in a long line of real estate deals for Bezos, who owns other homes in Beverly Hills as well as properties in Seattle, Texas and Washington D.C.
$125 million — Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg kept L.A. County’s real estate market red-hot over the summer, selling his Beverly Hills compound for $125 million — good for the third-priciest sale in California history .
It was a massive return on investment for the Quibi co-founder, who paid $30 million for the property in 2009. He finished building the home three years later, aerial photos show. Wrapping around a massive courtyard, the U-shaped house spans 26,000 square feet with a massive lawn and swimming pool out back.
The property covers six acres on a promontory lot overlooking the Sunset Strip and Greystone Mansion below. Maybe that softened the sting of Quibi’s shutdown in October after less than seven months of short-form video streaming.
$68 million — David Geffen Media mogul David Geffen wasn’t finished after his historic sale to Jeff Bezos. A few months later he bought a little something for himself: a striking modern megamansion in Beverly Hills.Set on 3.25 acres, the architectural estate was owned by Casey Wasserman, president of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee. It was designed by Richard Meier and blends stone, glass and white oak across 18,500 square feet. Inside, highlights include six bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, automated steel doors, museum-like living spaces, a movie theater, elevator and art studio. $63.25 million — Rancho San Carlos Montecito — a small Santa Barbara County haven where the wealthy go for scenic settings and peaceful isolation — saw a handful of huge deals in 2020, but none bigger than the $63.25-million […]
