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Nicolas Berggruen, a real estate investor who earned the nickname “billionaire homeless” because of his jet-set lifestyle and lack of permanent address, just shelled out $ 63.1 million for the estate Hearst in Beverly Hills, winning the prized property in a bankruptcy auction that was more competitive than some expected.
On Tuesday, think tank co-founder Berggruen Institute beat five other bidders at the Edward R. Roybal Federal Building and the US Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles in a lively auction that lasted about 45 minutes.
Twenty-four people – the bidders as well as lawyers and agents – crowded into the courtroom, and a few others watched the action on a screen in an overflow room, said Anthony Marguleas of Amalfi Estates , which held the registration on the domain.
The auction started at $ 48 million, up $ 1 million from Berggruen’s initial bid, which was accepted by the seller, attorney Leonard Ross, in August. The accepted offer sparked a Chapter 7 auction, the proceeds of which will be used to pay off the approximately $ 50 million debt Ross has accumulated on the property after years of failing to sell the home.
With bids increasing in increments of $ 100,000, all but two bidders have dropped out around the $ 52 million mark: Berggruen and MBRG Investors, a West Hollywood real estate investment firm, according to the records.
Berrgruen’s winning bid of $ 63.1 million is the highest ever paid for a house at auction, beating an Italian-inspired mansion in Beverly Park that sold for $ 51 million This year.
It’s a record sale, but still a far cry from the $ 195 million Ross originally wanted for the property. It set the ambitious price following the sale of the Playboy Mansion for $ 100 million in 2016, but years of relist and price cuts brought it down to $ 69.95 million earlier this year. .
As William Randolph Hearst’s other home – the famous San Simeon Castle – the reputation of the Beverly Hills Hearst estate precedes it. As well as being linked to the newspaper mogul, it was rumored to be the location of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy’s honeymoon in the 1950s as well. His myriad of film credits include ” The Godfather ”and“ The Bodyguard ”, as well as Beyoncé’s 2020 visual album“ Black Is King ”.
Built in 1926, the salmon-colored showplace was designed by Gordon Kaufmann, the prolific architect behind the Hoover Dam, Greystone Mansion and the Hollywood Palladium. He designed it for local banker Milton Getz.
Spanning 29,000 square feet, the Mediterranean mansion captures the spirit of old Hollywood glitz and glamor with 22-foot-high hand-painted ceilings, a two-story wood-paneled library, two screening rooms and a Art Deco nightclub with a bar salvaged from Hugh Hefner’s now defunct Touch Nightclub. In the billiard room is a stone fireplace descended from Hearst Castle.
Elsewhere are nine bedrooms, 15 bathrooms and large public spaces that can accommodate 1,000 people. The 3.5-acre resort also includes two guest apartments, a pool house, tennis pavilion, and five-bedroom gatehouse set amid terraces, lawns, waterfalls and an Olympic-size lit swimming pool. by period lampposts.
“You can’t build a house this big in Beverly Hills anymore, and getting 3.5 acres is very rare,” Hilton & Hyland listing agent Gary Gold told The Times in August.
Since the property went on sale in April for $ 89.75 million, there have been 71 inquiries, 41 private tours and 12 written offers. Marguleas and Gold held the list along with Zizi Pak and John Gould of Rodeo Realty.
Born in France, Berggruen founded his private investment firm Berggruen Holdings in 1984 and also established the independent think tank Berggruen Institute in 2010.
A regular in Southern California real estate, he bought 450 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains in 2015 with the goal of building a headquarters for the think tank. Forbes estimates his net worth at $ 1.7 billion.
The institute annually awards a million dollars “for major achievements in promoting ideas that shape the world.”
The estate is the last prized property to be auctioned off due to bankruptcy. The owners of the mountain, a 157-acre parcel in Beverly Hills billed as the city’s finest undeveloped land, racked up $ 200 million in debt on the property, causing it to be sold for 100,000. $ at a foreclosure auction in Pomona.
Two other high-profile bankruptcy sales come from Bel-Air. Bids are accepted until September 27 for Mohamed Hadid’s infamous hillside house, which was ordered to be demolished by a judge who said the 30,000 square foot mansion was a “danger to the public” . The proceeds from the sale will go towards the destruction of the house, and the winning bidder will get the raw land.
Right across from Hadid’s house, Nile Niami faces over $ 110 million in debt on “The One,” a 100,000-square-foot mega-mansion he is trying to sell for $ 500 million. A judicial receiver prepares it for sale.
This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
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