The Amazon founder splurged on a trio of Manhattan apartments overlooking Madison Square Park in early 2019, paying a total of $80 million. The Wall Street Journal reported at the time that Bezos’s over-the-top purchase could be one of the most expensive real-estate transactions in New York City for the year. (Ultimately, however, a $240 million Manhattan penthouse beat it out.) The acquisition included a three-floor, 10,000-square-foot penthouse with a grand ballroom, a library with a marble and glass fireplace, and a seven-room main suite; a three-bedroom unit below that with high-end finishes like Calacatta marble countertops; and an adjoining four-bedroom pad with oversized windows on three of its four sides.
In April of 2020, Bezos bought a fourth unit in the same luxe Madison Square Park apartment building, dropping $16 million for a three-bedroom adjacent to the two lower-level units from the original purchase. While it was unclear at the time what Bezos’s plans were for combining all four units, building permits were submitted in fall 2019, so it’s likely the fourth acquisition was meant to be an addendum to the already-grand Manhattan megamansion.
Bezos further invested in this dwelling in early 2021, picking up a $23 million unit in the same historic building. This brought his holdings there to $119 million and 24,551 square feet. Bezos still maintains these five units.
David Geffen’s historic Beverly Hills mansion
The start of the new decade proved to be a busy one for Bezos, real estate-wise. In February of 2020, he paid a record $165 million for David Geffen’s historic Beverly Hills mansion. The massive 10-acre estate includes a 13,600-square-foot Georgian-style main house, two guest houses, a nursery and three hothouses, a tennis court, a swimming pool, expansive terraces, and a nine-hole golf course. The grand motor court even has its own service garage and gas pumps. A notable feature of the main house is its antique wood flooring, imported from overseas and believed to be the very floor that Napoleon stood upon when he proposed to Empress Joséphine. That same month, Bezos reportedly spent $90 million on a 120-acre undeveloped plot of land that belonged to the late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, though the deal ended up falling through.
Several months later, in July, Bezos built upon his Beverly Hills holdings by purchasing the property adjacent to Geffen’s estate for $10 million, a considerably more humble abode that is still nonetheless luxurious by the average person’s standards. Measuring 4,615 square feet, the two-story traditional home features three bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms, with much of the interiors upgraded by the seller. French doors, six brick fireplaces, crown molding, and dark hardwood floors give the property a good amount of historic prestige, while an outdoor brick courtyard and vegetable and rose gardens complete the grounds’ offerings. Bezos still owns both these properties.
Hawaiian compound
Later that year, Bezos purchased a $78 million compound located on La Perouse Bay, setting a record for priciest home on Maui. In a rather unusual move, Bezos bought out the holding company that owns the land rather than purchasing the land outright. The property was never publicly listed, so little is known about the interiors of the home on the land, but the 14-acre property includes a 4,500-square-foot main house and a 1,700-square-foot guest house, both built in the Hawaiian plantation style. A wood-clad outdoor kitchen and deck just off the main house offer the perfect spot for entertaining and taking in scenic views, and there is also a 700-square-foot pool overlooking the property’s private white sand beach. Not a bad vacation spot for Bezos and Sánchez to spend their time following Bezos’s decision to step down as Amazon CEO.
Billionaire Bunker properties
An aerial view of Indian Creek Island in Miami.
