Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez have bought a cosy love nest. Photo / AP
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez have bought a cosy love nest. Photo / AP
He's the world's richest man – so it's only fitting he now owns California's most expensive home.
Earlier this month, the New York Post reported Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was house hunting with girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, with the new couple focusing their attention on the Beverly Hills and Bel Airarea of Los Angeles.
Sources claimed money was no object and that the pair weren't ruling out a home with a nine-figure price tag – and now it seems they've done just that.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Bezos snapped up media executive David Geffen's mansion for a record-smashing US$165 million (NZ$256 million), making it the most expensive home ever sold in California.
Bezos' new digs is the Warner Estate – a property originally established in the 1930s for Jack Warner, the former president of Warner Bros.
It boasts a tennis court, swimming pool, a number of guesthouses, a 1,210 sqm main residence and garages complete with fuel pumps.
In a 1992 Architectural Digest magazine article, the author described the legendary parties Warner regularly held at the sprawling estate, attracting Hollywood elites such as Elizabeth Taylor, Tony Curtis, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland.
And in a book quoted by the Wall Street Journal in the article, Los Angeles real-estate agent Jeff Hyland sung the lavish estate's praises.
"No studio czar's residence, before or since, has ever surpassed in size, grandeur, or sheer glamour the Jack Warner Estate on Angelo Drive in Benedict Canyon," he said.
David Geffen bought the mansion in 1990 following the deaths of both Jack Warner and his wife Ann.
He shelled out around US$47.5 million ($73 million) for the eight-bedroom home and its furnishings, breaking US records at the time.
The Wall Street Journal also reports Bezos also bought a US$90 million block of land near the estate which previously belonged to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who died in 2018.
And he's also got a string of other properties in his portfolio, including multimillion-dollar homes in Beverly Hills, Seattle, Texas and Washington, DC, as well as several apartments in New York.
The record-breaking sale is just the latest in a string of headline-making moves by Bezos.
In late January, he grew his staggering wealth by around US$13.2 billion in just 15 minutes after his company's shares spiked by 12 per cent following an impressive Christmas holiday sales period coupled with a successful quarter, taking them to US$12000 a share.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates his current net worth to be around US$131 billion (NZ$203b), beating rival Bill Gates, who has a mere US$119 billion to his name.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Photo / AP
Last year, the father of four announced on Twitter he had split with wife of 25 years MacKenzie Bezos, tweeting: "I'm grateful for her support and for her kindness in this process".
The marriage ended in the world's biggest divorce settlement after his ex-wife pocketed a 4 per cent stake in the online shopping empire, worth more than $52 billion at the time.
The settlement made author Ms Bezos the fourth-richest woman in the world.
Soon after, it emerged Mr Bezos was dating TV anchor Lauren Sanchez.
And last month, United Nations experts revealed Bezos' phone had been hacked in May 2018 after receiving a file sent from a WhatsApp account used by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
