Here's The Truth About Jeff Bezos' Massive Real Estate Portfolio
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the richest man on earth (and, after his flight into orbit, in space). Bezos became fascinated with the world wide web, as it was then called back in the early '90s. He quit his Wall Street job in 1994 and with his then-wife MacKenzie Bezos, drove across the country to set up his new-fangled online bookstore in Seattle. MacKenzie drove and Jeff wrote the business plan as the couple made their way west.
Bezos became a billionaire for the first time in June 1998, one year after Amazon went public. He hit the milestone of $10 billion in June 1999, and achieved a $50 billion net worth by July 2015, and $100 billion in January 2018. Today he has a net worth of $211 billion, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon officially on July 1, 2021, after running the company since its founding in 1995. On the day his replacement, Andy Jassy, took over, Amazon's stock surged to a per-share price of $3,678.74. Had Bezos and his ex-wife never gotten divorced, he would have been worth $300 billion that day. However, MacKenzie got 20% of the shares of Amazon in the divorce, making her an instant multi-billionaire, per Forbes.
Bezos has a massive real estate portfolio, so let's dive in and take a look at all his various properties.
Jeff Bezos owns the $165 million Jack Warner Estate in Beverly Hills
In February 2020, Jeff Bezos bought the former estate of Warner Brothers founder, Jack Warner, from music mogul David Geffen for $165 million. It set the record for the most expensive residential real estate purchase in Los Angeles, as noted by the Wall Street Journal.
The nine-acre property was built in the 1930s for Warner when he was president of the legendary film studio bearing his name. The mansion is 13,600 square feet, and the property also has lush gardens, large terraces, two guesthouses, a tennis court, a pool, and a nine-hole golf course.
Located on Angelo Drive in the Benedict Canyon area of Beverly Hills, the Warner Estate is considered to be one of the grandest and most glamorous properties in all of Los Angeles. Geffen bought the estate in 1990 for $47.5 million, which was the then-record price paid for a private residence in Los Angeles.
This is Jeff Bezos' $12.9 million Beverly Hills estate
In July 2018, Jeff Bezos bought a $12.9 million mansion located directly behind another one of his Beverly Hills mansions. Built in 1956, the 4,586 square foot home sits on a half-acre lot and it was never publicly listed for sale, per the Los Angeles Times. The property features large trees, copious patio space, and a swimming pool. The home has formal living and dining rooms, two fireplaces, four bedrooms, and six bathrooms. Two gated entrances lead to a large motor-court-style driveway. The purchase expands Bezos' holdings in Beverly Hills and together with another property creates a 2.5 acre compound.
Bezos bought the property on North Alpine Drive in an off-market deal. Along with the home he bought a decade ago, his two properties create a horseshoe around his neighbor, via Mansion Global. It would not be surprising if the tech entrepreneur buys up the property in the middle as well.
Check out Jeff Bezos' $24.5 million Beverly Hills mansion
In 2007, Jeff Bezos bought a $24.5 million Beverly Hills mansion next door to the $12.9 million property he bought in 2018. The home was once owned by David Geffen and sits down a long driveway behind a large gate. The entrance to the property is shaded by a tall grove of bamboo, according to Variety. The just over two acres of impeccably landscaped land features an 11,891 square foot California Spanish-style mansion, a swimming pool, and a sunken tennis court.
When the property was purchased in 2007, it had four en-suite bedrooms, a two-bedroom suite for staff, for six bathrooms total in the house. The property also has a separate guesthouse with an additional bedroom and bathroom. This home is solar-powered, per Mansion Global.
This property and the $12.9 million property on North Alpine drive create a fairly awkward u-shaped complex around another house. Does anyone want to take bets on how long it will be before Bezos buys that property too?
Jeff Bezos has a $23 million mansion in Washington D.C.
In 2016, Jeff Bezos bought a 27,000 square foot mansion at 2320-2330 S Street NW in Washington D.C. for $23 million. The structure was originally built in 1914. As a residence, it has 10 bedrooms, eight bathrooms, six half bathrooms, and 11 fireplaces. The property is in the upscale Kalorama neighborhood where neighbors include former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, as noted by the Daily Beast. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner also lived in the neighborhood during the presidency of her father, Donald Trump.
The mansion is the former site of the Textile Museum. Urban Turf reported on the conversion of the museum into one of the largest residential properties in the Washington D.C. area. Bezos did a $12 million renovation on the property immediately after closing the deal; he had the exterior, roofs, and driveways renovated, installed a geothermal system, restored a pergola, and expanded a terrace. He also had a limestone-and-glass garden room added to the property and turned the carriage house into a residence for staff. This home was purchased three years after he became the sole owner of The Washington Post.
Jeff Bezos bought the $5 million home across the street from his Washington D.C. mansion
In January 2020, Jeff Bezos purchased the mansion right across the street from his massive Washington D.C. compound for $4,995,000. The 4,785 square foot four-level home has an elevator, staff or guest quarters, laundry room, powder room and a 700 bottle wine cellar located on the first floor, according to Redfin. A spiral staircase leads to a living room, dining room, gourmet kitchen, and a large terrace garden. The top two floors have a family room, media area, two ensuite bedrooms, and a full-floor master suite. There's also a roof deck with views of the city.
The property last hit the market in 2001 for $1,446,000. It was on the market for less than two weeks, which was surprising given the fact that it went on the market in the typically slow real estate month of December, via the Washingtonian.
Jeff Bezos paid $80 million for three units at 212 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan
In mid-2018, Jeff Bezos closed on an $80 million deal to purchase the penthouse and the two units directly below it at 212 Fifth Avenue in New York City. Located near Madison Square Park, the penthouse alone occupies three-floors of the building. If the three units are combined, it would be a home of more than 17,000 square feet with 12 bedrooms, per the Wall Street Journal.
When Bezos closed the deal the penthouse was asking $58 million, which is a significant reduction from the $73.8 million it was asking in 2017. The other two units sold for a combined $28.45 million. At the time, it was the most expensive residential real estate deal ever in New York City south of 42nd street.
The building at 212 Fifth Avenue was built in 1912 and was originally a commercial property used for manufacturing. In 2015 it was converted into about 50 condos. The building also has a gym and game room.
Jeff Bezos has four Units at 25 Central Park West in Manhattan for $13 million
In 1999, Jeff Bezos bought three condos at 25 Central Park West on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for $7.65 million from the former head of Sony Music, Tommy Mottola. The music mogul had bought the two condos just four months earlier, started renovating them, and abandoned the project, as noted by Observer. In 2012, Bezos picked up another condo in the building for $5.3 million, bringing his total in the Century building to four condos.
The art-deco building was built in 1931, is 32-stories tall, and has elevator attendants, a concierge, three entrances, and is right next to Central Park. When Bezos bought the first three condos in 1999, he had a net worth of roughly $10 billion and wasn't as well known as he is today. The Observer write up on the deal focuses more on Mottola and his split from singer Mariah Carey. The article mentions that Bezos intended to use the condos as a pied-a-terre for himself and his then-wife MacKenzie Bezos as well as his parents Miguel and Jacklyn Bezos.
Jeff Bezos owns a $10 million property in Medina, Washington
In 1998, Jeff Bezos bought a 5.3 acre property in Medina Washington with two houses on it for $10 million, per the Wall Street Journal. One home is 20,600 square foot, five bedroom, four bathroom house, according to Realtor. The other home is an 8,300-square foot house. Located on the shore of Lake Washington, the area is also home to Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The posh town is a suburb of Seattle, where Bezos' Amazon is headquartered.
Medina has a population just over 3,000 and is the seventh richest zip code in the United States, notes CNBC. The median home value in the chic enclave is $2.77 million. The median household income for 2019 (the latest year data is available for) was $192,120 — more than $123,000 higher than the median U.S. income of $68,703.
For perspective, in 1999, Amazon had been online for four years, Bezos' marriage to MacKenzie Bezos was six years old, Amazon had been public for two years, and he had a net worth of $1 billion, via Celebrity Net Worth.
Jeff Bezos bought the $50 million mansion next door to his Medina, Washington estate
In 2010, Jeff Bezos paid roughly $50 million for the 24,000 square foot house next door to his original Medina, Washington compound. Bezos spent another $28 million in renovations, bringing the total cost of his Medina estate to $88 million. The Tudor-style home has six bedrooms, six bathrooms, and used to belong to entrepreneur Peter La Haye and his wife, per the Wall Street Journal.
Medina is located on a peninsula with Seattle across the water to the west and Bellvue located directly east of the pricey city. Most of the homes in Medina are multi-million dollar mansions located behind private gates, as noted by the Seattle Times. To get to Medina from Seattle, you drive across the longest floating bridge in the world, spanning 7,710 feet across Lake Washington, reports Mansion Global. Since 2009, the city has used surveillance cameras to record each individual license plate that comes into the town.
Jeff Bezos bought Corn Ranch in Van Horn, Texas
Jeff Bezos grew up spending summers on his grandparents' ranch in Texas. In an interview with the Miami Herald, Bezos said, "One of the things that's so interesting about that lifestyle and about my grandfather is he did everything himself. You know, he didn't call a vet if one of the animals was sick; he figured out what to do himself." Bezos wanted his kids to experience what it's like to spend summers on a ranch, so Bezos bought the 400,000 acre Corn Ranch near Van Horn, Texas, per Chron. For perspective, the land Bezos owns in Texas is nearly the size of New York City.
Bezos purchased the ranch in 2004. It also serves as the headquarters of his space exploration company, Blue Origin, which he founded in 2000, per Chron. Bezos was obsessed with space and space travel as a kid and Blue Origin is the realization of that dream. It's his passion to make flights to space affordable so that one day, people have the option to move there. In fact, according to Celebrity Net Worth, Bezos founded Amazon and built his wealth and success so that he could pursue his goals with Blue Origin. The company made history in 2015 when it launched and landed New Sheperd, a reusable rocket, successfully.