Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has huge $650 million worth of luxury properties across the US
From New York to Los Angeles, the Amazon boss has amassed a huge real estate portfolio, including multiple apartments in the same building.
It’s the end of an era for Jeff Bezos, who announced that his time as the CEO of Amazon would soon come to a close.
Starting out in 1994 as an online bookstore, Amazon morphed into a multi-trillion-dollar company with Mr Bezos, 57, as the ringleader of it all.
Since then, he has amassed a gigantic real estate portfolio worth upward of $US500 million ($A650 million), accounting for inflation. Ranging from properties in Beverly Hills to Seattle to good ol’ West Texas, and even cities like Washington, D.C., and New York, Mr Bezos has a home for each climate.
Until his divorce from Mackenzie Scott in 2019, he was worth about $US150 billion ($A195 billion) – making him the richest person in the world.
Following his divorce, Mr Bezos remained on Forbes’ 2020 list as the world’s wealthiest person for the third year in a row, despite giving $US36 billion ($A47 billion) worth of his Amazon stock to his ex-wife.
Today, Mr Bezos is estimated to have a net worth of about $US195 billion ($A254 billion) – sparked by the rise of Amazon’s portfolio amid the pandemic.
While it remains unclear at this point how the two have decided to divvy up their real estate assets, the homes he’s purchased are spread across the nation.
Scroll through to peek inside the good life of Jeff Bezos.
NEW YORK
Madison Square Park, 212 Fifth Ave. | $US96 million ($A125 million)
At the height of the pandemic in April 2020, the online shopping magnate closed on a $US16 million ($A21 million), three-bedroom condominium on the 20th floor of 212 Fifth Ave.
It’s the fifth time he bought an entire floor in the 24-story building – he already dropped $US80 million ($A104 million) in June 2019 on the 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th floors.
His 2019 apartment spree included the purchase of a three-storey, five-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bathroom penthouse and the two-unit floor beneath it, which he planned to combine into a single mega-condo totalling 17,000 square feet (1579sq m), according to Realtor.com.
Mr Bezos’ penthouse even has an observatory. And each unit in the building, which overlooks Madison Square Park, has galleried hallways, solid oak and marble floors and luxury finishes.
The stately building, built in 1912, offers a fitness centre, a yoga studio, a treatment room, a playroom, a game room, a dining and meeting room, a catering kitchen and a screening room.
LINCOLN SQUARE
25 Central Park West | $US13 million ($A17 million)
It’s been widely reported that Mr Bezos owns four apartments worth $US17.5 million ($A22.8 million) in the Century Condominium at 25 Central Park West, which neighbours Central Park and has been home to composer George Gershwin and Friends star Matthew Perry, according to Mansion Global.
He is said to have bought three apartments in the building in 1999 for $US7.6 million ($A10 million) – about $US12.1 million ($A15.8 million) today – and added a fourth to his collection for $US5.3 million ($A6.9 million) in 2012.
However, an insider told the New York Post Mr Bezos does not own any of these properties.
Either way, the 33-storey, dual-tower structure was built in 1932 by Irwin Chanin, who was known for Broadway theatre designs. The building, complete with Art Deco exterior and lobby, holds over 400 unique condominiums, according to StreetEasy.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
2320-2330 S Street, Kalorama | $US23 million ($A30 million)
The Amazon honcho paid $US23 million ($A30 million) in 2016 for the former Textile Museum in Washington’s upscale Kalorama neighborhood – then he got to work on a $US12 million ($A16 million) renovation, according to a Washingtonian report.
Mr Bezos purchased the estate three years after becoming the sole owner of The Washington Post.
The neighborhood once housed Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump as well as Barack and Michelle Obama.
The brick exterior has stately Roman columns and balconies, a sweeping lawn with a fountain and a private garden with brick-arched walkways.
Covering 27,000 square feet (2508sq m), it was originally built in 1914. It holds 10 bedrooms, eight full bathrooms, six powder rooms and 11 fireplaces.
Mr Bezos also bought the 4800-square-foot (445sq m) home across the street for $US5 million ($A6.5 million) in January 2020 through the Capital Revocable Trust, which represents him, the Washingtonian reported.
The four-bedroom home, built in 1951, has five full bathrooms and two powder rooms. With vaulted ceilings, detailed crown moulding, carved marble fireplaces and distressed hardwood floors, it boasts a 700-bottle wine cellar and a roof deck.
The home, with a brick and limestone exterior, also offers a stately dining room, elegant country-style kitchen, walk-in closets, balcony and covered patio with vaulted skylight.
BEVERLY HILLS
Near Sunset Blvd. | $US165 million ($A214 million)
In a record-shattering deal just before the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Bezos purchased a $US165 million ($A214 million) mansion from billionaire producer David Geffen.
The stunning, 12,254-square-foot (1138sq m) home near Sunset Boulevard reveals distressed wood plank floors, fresco walls, diamond-shaped windows and hand-carved doors.
The eight-bedroom, 10-bathroom estate contains a koi pond, a European garden, a lagoon-like pool and spa, waterfalls, a tennis court, a tree-lined cobblestone driveway and a courtyard with an outdoor fireplace.
The estate also boasts a dining room for 12, a formal living room with an antique fireplace, an indoor-outdoor bar, a game room and a den with a fireplace. The kitchen has exposed wooden ceiling beams and handpainted tiles, and there is even an attached apartment.
The brick house was built for Warner Bros. Studios founder Harry Warner in 1923. Chairs from the original Warner Bros. Studios provide seating in the in-home theatre, according to the listing.
The owner’s suite has vaulted and beamed ceilings, dual bathrooms, a refreshment area, a fireplace and a wraparound terrace.
The Tudor and French country-style home also has a two-storey guesthouse that has hosted celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, according to the listing by Jade Mills Estates.
The soon-to-be executive chair of Amazon also bought a solar-powered, seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom mansion in 2007 for $US24.4 million ($A31.8 million).
The Spanish-style home has exposed wooden ceiling beams, reddish floor tiles, detailed blue and yellow decorative tiling, arched doors and wooden rotunda ceilings, according to the listing.
It has an eat-in kitchen with a fireplace, a family room, a media room and an owner’s bedroom with a private veranda and views of the city.
On the two-acre (0.8 hectare) estate, there are four outdoor gardens, a greenhouse, a sunken and lit tennis court, a swimming pool, an outdoor dining area, a separate guest apartment, a six-car garage, patios and a motor court.
Mr Bezos bought a second, neighbouring estate in Beverly Hills, Calif., in 2017 for $US12.9 million ($A16.8 million).
The off-market deal added a half-acre to his existing two acres. The contemporary-style, single-story home was built in 1956 and covers 4500 square feet (418sq m) with four bedrooms and six bathrooms, according to Mansion Global, which noted that Google Maps shows a large pool in the backyard.
WEST TEXAS
This 30,000-acre (12,140 hectare) property in the west-most part of Texas is the base for Mr Bezos’ private space company, Blue Origin.
But the property also has a four-bedroom grey stucco home. Mr Bezos purchased the house from lawyer Ronald Stasny for an unknown amount in 2004. Originally built in the 1920s, it underwent millions in renovations under Mr Stasny, who said that Mr Bezos intended to keep the house mostly as-is when he purchased it.
It has deer-antler chandeliers, oak furniture, historical photos and paintings of the ranch, a barn and a guesthouse, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
It is estimated Bezos paid over $US50 million ($A65 million) for the property.
Mr Bezos, who attended primary school in Houston, said he wants his family to have the chance to live on a ranch after he got to stay on his grandfather’s 25,000-acre (10,117 hectare) ranch in Cotulla, Texas, as a kid, according to the report.
Ranches in the area go for about $US1,400 ($A1,800) an acre, Realtor.com shows, and Stasny told the WSJ that Bezos paid a premium.
MEDINA, WASHINGTON
Evergreen Point | $US10 million ($A13 million)
One of Mr Bezos’ first homes he purchased following newfound success at the company was in Medina, Seattle. He paid $US10 million ($A13 million) in 1998 for a 20,600-square-foot (1914sq m), five-bedroom, four-bathroom house, according to Realtor.com. The 5.3-acre (2.1 hectare) property in the ritzy Seattle suburb is located near the local Post Office and grocery store, property records show.
Then, in 2005, he reportedly spent $US50 million ($A65 million) on a neighbouring 8300-square-foot (771sq m) mansion with five bedrooms and four bathrooms. The properties have a combined 310 feet (94m) of shoreline, according to Realtor.com.
Finally, Mr Bezos plunked down $US28 million ($A36 million) in renovations on the combined estate in 2010, according to Realtor.com, for a total of $US88 million ($115 million) spent on the estate – $US118 million ($A154 million), adjusting for inflation.
Medina Peninsula is accessible from Seattle via the longest floating bridge in the world, spanning 7710 feet (2350 metres) across Lake Washington. The 1.4-square-mile (3.6 sq km) city has a golf and country club founded in 1927, where residents like to not only golf but swim and play tennis, according to Mansion Global.
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission
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