Beyoncé and Jay-Z, no strangers to flashy real estate deals, reportedly upgraded from their $88 million mansion in Bel Air, Calif., to a $200 million Malibu property last late month, officially erasing the line between going big and going home.
TMZ, which broke the story, reported that the couple’s new abode is a 30,000-square-foot concrete masterpiece designed by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando, perched on an eight-acre bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The seller was the famed art collector William Bell, and the deal was repped by Kurt Rappaport, co-founder of Westside Estate Agency. TMZ also reported that Beyoncé and Jay-Z paid in cash. The couple reportedly bought the home through a trust. (Mr. Rappaport did not return requests for comment.)
The sale marks the most expensive residential real estate deal in California history — but not the most expensive in American history. That would be the $238 million sale in January 2019 of an unfinished penthouse on Central Park South, in Manhattan, to the billionaire hedge fund tycoon Kenneth C. Griffin. Still, California can claim 10 of the 20 most expensive property sales ever in the United States, according to data compiled by Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel appraisals. (Four were in New York, five in Florida and one in Connecticut.)
Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who have bought and sold multimillion-dollar homes in Miami, New Orleans and the Hamptons, are now in a rarefied club of celebrities who own properties worth $100 million or more. Here’s a sampling of some others.
Oprah Winfrey | $100 million estate | Montecito
The media mogul, actress and philanthropist reportedly paid $52 million for her Montecito mansion, which covers 23,000 square feet and sits on 70 landscaped acres. It is now worth significantly more — its 2022 assessment record in Santa Barbara County put the home’s value at more than $100 million, with taxes alone topping $1 million. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to be regular guests, although their March 2021 bombshell interview with the talk-show queen wasn’t filmed in her backyard. It was actually at the home of a friend in Montecito.
Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel | $120 million home | Holmby Hills
Last summer, the Snap co-founder and chief executive Evan Spiegel, who became a billionaire at 25, and his supermodel wife, Miranda Kerr, closed on a $120 million estate in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. Dirt reported that the purchase was even more eye-watering — Mr. Spiegel also snapped up a $25 million parcel next door, bringing to total value to $145 million.
George Lucas | $100 million ranch | Marin County
The mastermind behind the “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” franchises has reportedly spent more than $100 million to develop a 4,700-acre property in secluded Nicasio, Calif., a rural patch north of San Francisco. Aptly called Skywalker Ranch, the property includes a man-made lake, a restaurant and a fire station, as well as sound-mixing and recording facilities.
