For some, being rich means exuberance. Whether it’s a $900,000 suit, a couple million dollars’ worth of car, or… an oversized house that’s priceless. No! We’re not just talking about the Hollywood Brigade celebrating opulence. This is just one part of the story. The list you’re about to see is a compilation of famous and notorious billionaires who demand extravagance from everything that money can buy. So get ready to immerse yourself in the exoticism of the finer real estate of the super-rich as we introduce you to some of the most expensive real estate in the world
It is not surprising that the rich are getting richer and richer and are astonishing the rest of the world at how they achieve this. But the excitement comes especially when these billionaires squander their wealth on something completely unconventional. Say, how usual is an expensive house with 27 floors and a parking lot for 300 guests? Not the kind of definition for an average house, but a house with such phenomenal dimensions is worth knowing about.
Here are some of the mega properties owned by billionaires whose existence you didn’t even know about. The billionaires we’re talking about are business tycoons and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies who enjoy the sunny side of life by living on a grand scale.
Be warned! The price tags on these phenomenal properties run into the billions.
But then there are some billionaires like the famous Brazilian philanthropist Lily Safra, who buys historic properties and adds her own touches such as setting up helipads. Not exactly the kind of modification one would expect on a historic property. But if you have the money, it’s never a problem to customize your needs down to the last detail.
Usually, billionaires choose to build custom palaces from scratch because they think it’s more practical. This gives them the degree of freedom to model the building themselves or make changes according to their wishes.
If you look at Bill Gates, the nerd billionaire has spent seven years and a lavish million-dollar expense to build a nerd paradise called Xanadu 2.0 overlooking Lake Washington. Bill Gates had his personal seal engraved on almost everything in the house – HD monitors, an underwater sound system, and more.
Thanks to the envious neighbors of investor Ira Rennert, who were not happy with his decision to build a $245 million mansion, he instead built a bowling alley and a private, self-sufficient power plant on a 110,000 square foot lot.
Houses were once considered a place to stay because they provided comfort and security for the residents. But as riches flow like the river, it becomes a statement to have a house that is unique, and spending a fortune to build an elaborate home is a true statement of luxury.
18 Expensive Home Of Billionaires And Their Taste Of Luxury.
1. Antilia – Mumbai, India
If you are in Mumbai, you have probably seen the only large private home big enough to be seen from almost anywhere. This 27-story skyscraper is built on 400,000 square feet. Although the house has 27 floors, it is built with extra ceilings. Antilia was designed to withstand an earthquake measuring eight on the Richter scale. The name Antilla is derived from the mystical island out in the Atlantic Ocean. Antilia has six underground parking levels, a health level, and three helipads. The expensive home needs 600 employees to keep the building functional. It currently enjoys the status of the most expensive home in the world with construction costs of over a billion dollars. The house is owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who is the managing director of Reliance Industries Limited. His net estimate is known to be $21 billion.
2. Villa Leopolda – Villefranche-Sur-Mer, France
The current owner of this aging property is billionaire Lily Safra, a Brazilian philanthropist and socialite, who supported several charities before inheriting the villa from her late husband. It is now considered the second most expensive house in the world. The estate on the property was originally built by King Leopold II as a gift to accommodate his mistresses. It was later passed down through several generations until 1929 when the property was turned into a modern villa. The net worth of this 20-hectare estate was estimated at €500 million. When Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian millionaire, tried to buy the property in 2008, he withdrew from the business due to the financial crisis. The threat of legal action led the Russian billionaire to waive the €50 million that had been paid as a down payment.
3. Fair Field – Sagaponack, New York.
If you’ve been bitching about the clutter in your tiny New York apartment, this is the kind of expensive home that might impress you. The current owner, billionaire Ira Rennert, named the house after the water adjacent to the property. Rennert is a $6.5 billion billionaire. The value of the property on the real estate market is estimated at $170 million. The house has a Mediterranean-style roof and a sports complex with basketball, tennis and squash courts. The house also has 29 bedrooms and 39 bathrooms with a Jacuzzi worth $150,000. The house has not just one, but three swimming pools and a private power plant to make it as self-sustaining as possible. The house stands at the end of a tree-lined avenue half a mile long.
4. Kensington Palace Gardens – London, U.K.
With a price of $222 million in 2008, it is one of the most expensive properties in the UK. It is owned by the Indian-born steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, worth $16.5 billion. The house, known as Taj Mittal, has 12 bedrooms, a Turkish bath, parking for 20 guests, a large ballroom, and a swimming pool. It is known that Mittal obtained the marbles for the flooring from the same quarry that supplied the marbles for the Taj Mahal. Mittal named his house Taj Mittal and is known to own three other plots of land on the most famous street in Britain, known as Billionaire’s Row. It is also known that he bought a neo-Georgian mansion near the Israeli embassy. Although there is no complete picture of the scenario, it is believed that it was bought for Mittal’s son. Noam Gottesman, a hedge fund billionaire, sold it.
5. One Hyde Park – London, U.K.
The apartments on the seventh and eighth floors of One Hyde Park are owned by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, who is worth $15.4 billion. It is one of the few expensive apartments in the world, located in Knightsbridge, one of the noblest areas of London. The property is built on a 25,000 square foot site, with bullet-proof glass and a full-time concierge service for your stay. The purchase was made for $136.4 million.
6. Ellison Estate – Woodside, California.
Did you know Larry Ellison is worth $54 billion? The founder of Oracle is a programmer, businessman and philanthropist. Larry is also a real estate collector. That’s why he’s known as an avid trophy and expensive home buyer. In 2004, he built a $200 million house built in the Japanese architectural style. The 23-hectare property includes ten buildings, a bathhouse, a tea house and a koi pond. The current value of the land is estimated at over $70 million.
7. Kensington Palace Gardens – London, U.K.
The list of notorious billionaires buying exotic properties just doesn’t seem to end. One such example is the Roman Abramovich. This Russian tycoon/billionaire is estimated to be worth $10.2 billion. In 2011 it was known that he owned a house worth £90 million, which amounts to about $140 million. Abramovich also owns several London properties. He also owns houses in Billionaires Row Mansion. He wanted to upgrade the property to house a car museum, a health center, and a tennis court. Surprisingly, it was approved by the City Council. In 2009, he committed $90 million to a property in St. Bart. Abramovich is also the owner of the castle on the French Riviera.
8. Blossom Estate – Palm Beach, Florida.
The manager of the hedge fund and founder of Citadel, Kenneth Griffin, who is worth $4.1 billion, bought four properties in Palm Beach for $130 million in 2012. Three plots are located near the beach, while the fourth is inland. The four plots have a combined area of a whopping 8 hectares. The sale was completed in secrecy, and much about the deal remains unknown. The property is rich in amenities that reflect the lifestyle of the finest and wealthiest people.
9. Mountain Home Road – Woodside, California.
This is one of the most elaborately built homes purchased by a Japanese billionaire, Masayoshi Son. This Japanese tycoon is worth $8.6 billion. The property was originally purchased for $117 million in 2012. The ground plan of the house includes a swimming pool, a free-standing library, a tennis court, a pool house with colonnades, a garden, and a retreat. The residences on Mountain Home Road have four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.
10. Further Lane de Menil – East Hampton, New York.
Ron Baron is a first-class investor worth $1.6 billion. He went on a collecting spree, collecting 50 acres of underdeveloped oceanfront land when the market was at its best. The sale was notarized for $103 million. The purchase was made with the intention of building a house. The houses in this part of the state are picturesque because of the beautiful landscape and folk architecture of the south.
11. Silicon Valley Mansion – Los Altos Hills, California.
Facebook investor Yuri Milner, worth $1.1 billion, bought a house in 2011 for a record $100 million. He recently purchased a limestone French Chateaux property that features outdoor and indoor pools. Yuri Milner’s house also features a ballroom and a second-floor living area with perfect views of San Francisco Bay.
12. Broken O Ranc – Augusta, Montana.
The property mentioned belongs to Stanley Kroenke. It’s worth $5 billion. The price quoted before the purchase was $132.5 million. However, due to some federal laws offering immunity from disclosure, the purchase price remains secret. The property is located on a 124,000-square-foot ranch. The main part of the house is built on an area of 10,000 square feet. It has horse stables, indoor swimming pools, water rights, 4,500 head of cattle, and land for full-scale farming with smaller crops.
13. Kensington Palace Gardens – London, U.K.
You may not know Tamara Ecclestone much more than her father Bernie Ecclestone, who was a billionaire Formula 1 boss. Tamara inherited property worth £45 million or about $70 million. It is estimated that the construction costs were up to $30 million. Tamara reportedly spent nearly $98.7 million on her expensive 55-room house on Billionaire’s Row, along with $1 million worth of renovation work. The house has a private nightclub, swimming pool, crystal bathtub, car elevator, swimming pool, and beauty parlor.
14. 15 Central Park West – New York.
Another hedge fund manager, Daniel Loeb, is a billionaire said to be worth $2.7 billion. In 2008 he bought a $45 million penthouse in the Upstate Central Park area. He owns the penthouse’s 674 square feet of ceiling space. With the high-rise overlooking elegant Central Park, it fetches a price of $100 million in today’s real estate market.
15 CPW is designed in sections: a 35-story tower on Broadway and a 19-story section on Central Park West. The latter is known as “The House”. Among the amenities of the house are a private driveway for each of its residents, a 20-seat movie theater, and a large fitness center. The house also has a 75-foot swimming pool.
15. Maison de L’Amitie – Palm Beach, Florida.
This property is located in one of the best travel destinations in the world. It is an oceanfront property built on an expansive 60,000 square feet of land. With an original sale price of $125 million, the land was purchased by real estate billionaire Donald Trump. The house is known for its gold and diamond fixtures. There is enough space to park at least 50 cars. The property was sold to Russian billionaire Dmitri Rybolovlev, whose net estimate is $9.1 billion.
16. Promised Land – Montecito, California.
Actress and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, worth $2.8 billion, bought a 23,000 square foot mansion in Montecito, California in 2001. The mansion was built using Georgian architecture. The mansion is located on a 40-hectare plot with a tea house and a tempting garden with 600 rose bushes. The property also has an outbuilding to boast of. The house also has 14 bathrooms, a gourmet kitchen, 10 fireplaces, a wine cellar, two theatres (both inside and outside the house), an artificial lake with exotic fish, a guest house with pool, ponds and orchard, an outdoor entertainment area and a pool connected to a huge guest house.
There is also a tea house in her house, which is often quoted as being an escape from it all. Oprah is known for constantly modernising the interior and exterior of her house and auctioning off the things she doesn’t need. Money collected from the auction of items from her house goes to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation College Fund. Although the property was purchased for $52 million, it is currently trading at $88 million.
17. 15 Central Park West – New York.
Another billionaire heiress, who is a daughter of Dimitry Rybolovlev, owns a penthouse in the Upstate Central Park area, where the 6,744 square foot penthouse overlooks Central Park. The LLC, which works with the heiress, purchased the property at a higher sale price. With a price of $13,500 per square foot, it is certainly a prime property in the United States.
18. The Manor – Los Angeles, California.
Petra Ecclestone, another heiress, and daughter of Formula 1 billionaire Bernie Ecclestone, is the owner of this mansion in the Holmby Hills. The price originally named for this 56,600 square foot mansion is an astonishing $150 million. But the property was sold in 2011 for $85 million. The mansion has everything an executive’s life demands. It has five bars, a flower cutting shop, a professional flower refrigerator, a bowling alley, and a dog grooming room. It is the finest luxury money could afford.
