Billionaire business mogul Elon Musk has just paid $6.75 million for his across-the-street neighbor’s home in ritzy Bel Air, California.
Musk, who has amassed billions via Tesla, SpaceX and PayPal, currently lives across the street in a home he purchased on January 1, 2013 for $17,000,000. His current home has 7 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms and has 20,248 square feet of interior living space and incredible outdoor spaces.
According to property records, his brand new purchase, just a few hundred feet away, was purchased on October 24, 2013 for $6,750,000. The ranch-style home is substantially smaller than his existing abode, with just 3 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms and 2,756 square feet, with an oval pool and private guest cottage. The home was the longtime residence of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” actor Gene Wilder, who lived there from 1976-2007.
What it lacks in size, Musk’s new property makes up for in opportunity. The home is the perfect location to develop a dream property. It sits on a one acre promontory overlooking a beautiful stream, mature trees and the white sand traps of the 13th green and 14th fairway of the prestigious Bel-Air Country Club Golf Course. The lot is elevated, allowing for distant city views.
Musk currently lives in an incredible estate that he previously rented for three years before he officially purchased it January 2013. It’s likely he’ll either capitalize on the opportunity presented by the new home and build an even more over-the-top mansion, or he’ll raze the existing home and create even better views and privacy for his current home.
He’s not the first billionaire to buy their neighbor’s homes. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer both recently paid millions of dollars for adjacent and nearby properties to ensure privacy.
With a net worth of $6.7 billion, Musk has the purchasing power to gobble up all the pricey estates for miles and miles.
Musk has made headlines recently when he unveiled plans for the Hyperloop, a rapid-speed train that claims to be able to transport passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 30 minutes.
Images via the MLS.
