Markus Persson, the Swedish billionaire behind “Minecraft,” just listed his Beverly Hills mega-mansion for $70 million, one of the highest-priced properties listed in the county this year.
In L.A.’s ailing luxury market, it’s an ambitious price tag but also a revealing one, given that Persson paid the same price for the home in 2014. Back then, spec houses — homes built without a specific buyer in mind — were selling like hotcakes.
But the market for such high-end properties has cooled. While the median L.A. home has more than doubled in value over the last 12 years, Persson’s price tag represents a 0% increase.
If it sells for $70 million, it’ll be the priciest home sale in Beverly Hills this year and the second-priciest in L.A. County behind Casa Encantada, a storied Bel-Air estate that sold to former PayPal chief executive Peter Thiel for $130 million at a foreclosure auction in September.
Persson bought the house from Bruce Makowsky, a developer known for jam-packing properties with extravagant amenities; another of his listings came with a $30-million fleet of exotic vehicles including a Bugatti as well as a sailboat and a helicopter used in the 1980s action series “Airwolf.”
This property came with plenty of bells and whistles as well: a $200,000 candy room, a 2,500-bottle wine cellar loaded with cases of Dom Perignon, and an art installation featuring a chrome machine gun.
Set on an acre overlooking L.A., the house spans 22,300 square feet with eight bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, an elevator, a movie theater and a swimming pool. Persson added a recording studio and private nightclub with a DJ booth.
“What makes the ultra-luxury market so fascinating is that buyers at this level aren’t simply looking for a home,” listing agent Aaron Kirman said. “They’re looking for something that sets them apart and cannot easily be replicated.”
Kirman added that Persson is selling the home because he no longer spends much time in L.A.
Persson reportedly beat out Jay-Z and Beyoncé when buying the property. The pair toured the house multiple times in 2014 before settling on an $88-million monolithic mansion in Bel-Air three years later.
Known as “Notch” in the gaming community, Persson founded Mojang Studios in 2009, and the company released “Minecraft” two years later. The sandbox-style game has since grown into the bestselling video game of all time. Three years later, he sold the company to Microsoft for $2.5 billion.
Kirman and Katia De Los Reyes of Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California hold the listing with Branden Williams and Rayni Williams of the Beverly Hills Estates.
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