The Mountain in Beverly Hills, listed for $ 1 billion, just sold for $ 100,000.

A heated court battle, a last-second offer and a sparsely attended auction in Pomona – this chapter of the famed Mountain of Beverly Hills ends with a princess.

Touted as the city is undeveloped piece of land, the 157-acre property redefined the luxury market when it listed for a record $ 1 billion last year. On Tuesday, it sold for $ 100,000 at a foreclosure auction, a fraction of the $ 200-million loan outstanding on the property.

A markdown of 10,000%, of course, comes with some fine print. Any other buyer would have had to buy that loss.

That's because the buyer is
the herbalife founder Mark Hughes, who previously owned the property. The estate set
this current saga into motion by selling it to Atlanta Chip Dickens investor in 2004.

Dickens borrowed around $ 45 million from the Hughes estate to buy the property, and that debt has been ballooned to roughly $ 200 million with interest and fees. Three years ago, Dickens transferred ownership to a limited liability company controlled by his partner on the project, Victor Franco Noval.

Noval is the son of convicted felon Victorino Noval, who pleaded guilty to fraud and evasion in 1997 and was sentenced to federal prison in 2003.

Unable to pay the debts, their limited liability company, Secured Capital Partners, tried – and failed – to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, which the Hughes estate to foreclosure foreclosure buy it back, likely losing the $ 200 million they were owed in the process.

They thing the latter.

A strange dichotomy emerged at the auction, which was informally held behind the fountain in Pomona's Civic Center Plaza.

Of the roughly 20 people present, they have been waiting for a dressing in their clothes and toting lawn chairs and umbrellas. They were there for the usual slate of sales of relatively cheap foreclosed homes around the area.

Behind them stood the suits, relaying messages in quick texts and hushed phone calls. Clad in pinstripes and tinted sunglasses, one woman identified herself as "no one."

"Just stopped by a walk," she coyly added before convenying with representatives of the Hughes estate.

The auction was over soon. The attorney overseeing the sale, David Bark of First American Title, asked if anyone is interested in being prequalified to bid. No one stepped forward, presumably because a buyer would be on the hook for the outstanding debt.

He then announced that the Hughes estate, which forced the auction, had placed a $ 100,000 credit bid on the property, which means the money of the debt they are owed instead of cash.

No one is protesting, and a property asking $ 1 billion unceremoniously sold for 1 / 10,000th of that price. That's 0.01%.

The storied parcel went back to the Hughes family for the first time in 15 years. Hugs were exchanged. The woman in the pinstripe follows, who bore a striking resemblance to Hughes widow, Suzan Hughes, appeared to cry tears of joy.

Representatives of the Hughes estate declined to comment.

As one story closed, another may open, however. Since the Hughes estate has bought a non-court-ordered foreclosure, it has forfeited the $ 200 million Secured Capital, according to the company's Ronald Richards attorney.

After listing for $ 1 trillion last summer, it was published on the market for half a year before the price was $ 650 million in February.

The 35% chop followed a proposed Scott Gillen offered $ 400 million and Secure Capital countered with $ 600 million. The deal fizzled, but people familiar with the matter told The Times

Then on Wednesday, the day before the auction, Richards offered $ 150 million for the property on behalf of Secured Capital. The proposal was ignored, Richards said.

Richards had already done some legal exercises in the first place, which was originally set for Thursday, Aug. 15. Two days prior, Secured Capital strategically transferred ownership to Tower Park Properties, which is also controlled by Dickens and Noval.

According to Richards, Tower Park had an open bankruptcy plan and required three weeks notice of default before a foreclosure, which he said the lender never gave. He added that if the auction happened, the Hughes estate would be exposed to $ 400 million in punitive damages.

Richards said it was planning to take action and further litigation if the estate tries to evict the property.

"This is the largest non-judicial foreclosure and the largest loss of a lender I've seen in 27 years," Richards said. "My $ 150-million offer was legit, and now they have a catastrophic loss."

In a luxury market that continues to break records, however, there is likely to be a massive interest in a 90210. Celebrities, moguls, investors and even royals have been tussling over the mountaintop parcel for nearly half a century – and for good reason.

Views stretch from downtown Los Angeles to Catalina Island, and the closest neighbor is half a mile away. Disneyland, has roughly 85 acres, just measures the size of the property.

The grounds are divided into 17 parcels. Six of them, ranging from 2.5 acres to 12.2 acres, are zoned for residential development.

Despite many dreams of development, the dormant.

The mountaintop was once owned by a sister of the late shah of Iran, the Princess Shams Pahlavi, who had planned to build a lavish palace there. It did not happen.

Merv Griffin, who commissioned prominent designer Waldo Fernandez to create a marble-and-limestone mansion. It was never built.

After falling into financial trouble, Griffin sold the mountaintop for more than $ 8 million in 1997 to mark Hughes, the founder of Herbalife, in a deal that was reportedly set at a high price for that time for Southern California.

After Hughes died in 2000 in his beachfront Malibu mansion at the age of 44, who sold the property to Aaron Kirman to try to sell the property last year.

Kirman told The Times he was a single buyer, perhaps a royal family of the Middle East or a Chinese billionaire. Of the approximately 2,800 billionaires in the world, he said there are 100 that could not buy the property.

If it sells for $ 200 million, it will be the all-time price record for California. The current benchmark belongs to the Manor, which Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone sold for $ 119.75 million.

Candy Barbell, candles, candles, candles, candles, candles, candles, candles, candles, candles, candles, candles, candles, candles, candles, candles, candles, spandrels Holmby Hills residence measures 56,500 square feet, or about 1,500 square feet larger than the White House, with 14 bedrooms and 27 bathrooms.