Jeffrey Katzenberg sold his $125 million home in an off-market deal (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty … [+] Images)
Getty Images
A house quietly traded hands last month between Jeffrey Katzenberg, former Dreamworks CEO and now Quibi co-founder, and Jan Koum, cofounder of the messaging platform WhatsApp (which he and fellow cofounder Brian Acton sold to Facebook for $19.3 billion in 2014), as Variety reported. Katzenberg unloaded his Trousdale Estates custom-built 26,000-square foot home to Koum for $125 million, making it the third highest-priced sale in California history. The only two more expensive homes are the Jeff Bezos purchase of David Geffen’s house for a reported $165 million and Lachlan Murdoch’s $150 million buy of the Chartwell Estate.
Kaztenberg’s property was never listed for sale so details about its design and decor are sparse. Tax records show he purchased the 6.4 acre lot in 2009 for $35 million, then had the existing house torn down and replaced with this 5-bedroom, 13-bathroom U-shaped mansion. The aerial photos show the mature, privacy-inducing trees and hedges that line the perimeter, along with a long driveway and what looks like a well-landscaped yard.
Co-founder and CEO of Whatsapp Jan Koum (LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Trousdale Estates is one of Los Angeles’ prime celebrity homebuying spots, going all the way back to the days when Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra owned homes here in the 1950s. In the modern era’s celebrity roll call it has been the home base for big names like Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Aniston, Ryan Seacrest, Jane Fonda and Ringo Starr to name just a few. Single-family homes here start at just over a million dollars, going all the way up to the current market topper—a $59 million Paul McClean-designed contemporary that has come down from its $100 million ask of two years ago.
Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency was the agent for both parties.
