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Covid-19 made Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos even richer, and he’s splashed US$175 million on Beverly Hills property including a mansion once owned by Warner Bros.’ co-founder – but why?

Jeff Bezos appears to be creating a massive Beverly Hills estate out of two adjacent properties. Photos: Shutterstock/AP
Jeff Bezos appears to be using his vast wealth to create a massive Beverly Hills compound. 
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos bought the Warner estate back in February for US$165 million. Photo: Getty

Back in February, the Amazon CEO bought the Warner estate, a piece of Hollywood history belonging to billionaire David Geffen. The US$165 million purchase broke the record for the most expensive home sale in California state history.

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Then, in July 2020, Bezos appeared to make another purchase, this time right next door: a US$10 million home that shares a hedge with the Warner estate. According to property records viewed by trade publication Variety, Bezos is the new owner of the 1930s-era home in Beverly Hills’ Benedict Canyon neighbourhood. 

 

A spokesperson for Amazon did not respond to request for comment on the sale. 

While there are few photos of the estate and the adjacent home, Los Angeles County has plenty of aerial views of the property that give us our best look yet at Bezos’ rumoured purchases. 

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Jack Warner, the co-founder and one-time president of Warner Bros., built the estate in 1937. He in fact began constructing the property in 1926, beginning with three acres of what used to be California farmland. Slowly but surely, Warner started adding parcels of adjacent land and building out the grounds of the estate, adding a golf course and two ponds. 

The sprawling Warner Estate in Beverly Hills. Photo: Shutterstock

Warner liked to throw extravagant parties that were attended by stars including Gone With the Wind’s Olivia de Havilland, Jimmy Stewart and moguls like Howard Hughes. An invitation to a party at the estate was apparently one of the most sought-after in Hollywood in the late 1930s and early 40s.

Warner filled the estate with expensive art, including a portrait of his wife, Ann, painted by Salvador Dalí, according to Architectural Digest.

 

Warner died in 1978, and Ann Warner owned the house until she died in 1990. That same year, the music and movie tycoon David Geffen bought the whole estate, including the art, for US$47.5 million, according to Forbes. The sale set a record at the time.

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Geffen, who is worth an estimated US$9.8 billion, also according to Forbes, has a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio that includes homes in Malibu, California, and in New York’s East Hamptons and Manhattan.

David Geffen is co-founder of Asylum Records and DreamWorks SKG alongside Steven Spielberg. Photo: @davidgeffen/Instagram
Geffen is also the owner of a US$590 million superyacht called Rising Sun, where he frequently hosts fellow business magnates and celebrities – including Bezos.
Bezos has previously vacationed aboard the yacht near the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain. Last year he was pictured on the deck of the yacht alongside former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, model Karlie Kloss and investor (and brother of Jared), Josh Kushner.
 
Geffen frequently hosts high-powered celebrities on the 122-metre-plus Rising Sun. Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bradley Cooper, and Barack and Michelle Obama have all been spotted on board.

In February, Bezos became the new owner of the Warner estate, according to The Wall Street Journal. The paper reported that Bezos bought the property for US$165 million, making it the most expensive home sale in California history. No brokers were involved in the sale.

According to the New York Post, Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sánchez, had been house hunting in Los Angeles and touring mansions throughout the area in previous weeks.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sánchez, an American news anchor, at an event in India. Photo: AP

The Warner estate spans eight acres and promises the utmost privacy. It’s surrounded by tall hedges, blocked off by a large gate, and completely hidden from view from the street.

The compound is home to multiple dwellings, including two guest houses and a 13,600 sq ft mansion.

The Georgian-style home has eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms. It includes a floor that was once owned by Napoleon, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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Photos of the interior of the estate shot by Architectural Digest in the early 90s show a screening room, an expansive bar and a dining room that could easily fit 14 guests.

 

The grounds also include a tennis court and manicured gardens. Geffen spent US$45 million renovating the property, including US$20 million on landscaping alone, according to The Wall Street Journal.

There’s a large pool and what appears to be an adjacent hot tub outside one of the large guest houses.

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At one point, the property also included a nine-hole golf course and a “motor court” with a garage and petrol pumps, according to Architectural Digest, though it’s not clear if those amenities are still on the property.

Bezos’ aforementioned adjacent property is on Tropical Avenue and perpendicular to the Warner estate. It shares a hedge with the compound, but is currently accessed from a different street.

 

That adjacent property was built in 1930 and was last sold for US$5.45 million, according to Variety. It features three bedrooms and five bathrooms, six fireplaces, a rear patio, and rose and vegetable gardens.

It’s not clear what Bezos would want with an adjacent property, but he has a history of snatching up homes near his larger estates. In 2017, he bought the house next door to his previous Beverly Hills mansion for US$12.9 million. His ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, was granted both homes in the couple’s divorce.

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This article originally appeared on Business Insider 

Jeff Bezos

Leonardo DiCaprio, Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey all partied with tycoon David Geffen on his superyacht – as did Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sánchez, which is how he may have secured his dream home