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The founder of Oakley, James Jannard, just set a new California record by selling his oceanfront Malibu estate for $210 million – the highest price ever paid for a home in the state’s history.
Interestingly, the home never actually made it on to the market and it isn’t clear, according to the Los Angeles Times, who actually bought the property as real estate records say it was purchased by a Delaware-based limited liability company.
Regardless, Oakley founder James Jannard made a small fortune on the sale of the home as he “only” paid $75 million for the property in 2012 when he bought it from billionaire investor Howard Marks, netting him a $135 million profit. Which is a mere pittance to someone like Jannard who, according to Forbes, has a net worth of $1.3 billion.
As for the property itself, it covers 9.5 acres and includes 300 feet of ocean frontage near El Pescador State Beach.
The main house covers more than 15,000 square feet, has eight bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, ornate columns, beamed ceilings and steel-and-glass windows across formal living spaces.
Outside the main home there is a giant courtyard with a garden, a pool overlooking the Pacific Ocean, a gym and two guesthouses.
The home was built by Ferguson & Shamamian Architects, whose website features numerous photos of the record-setting property.
“While this property on the rugged cliffs in the north end of Malibu commands spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean, the homeowners found the existing house too grandiose, overwhelming in scale and underwhelming in detail,” the company wrote about the property. “To suit the homeowner’s desire for restraint, a Palladio-inspired design was developed to both reduce the sheer volume of the house by 5,000 square feet and distinguish its form with a main block and two subordinate wings.”
KTLA News reports that the sale of James Jannard’s home was $10 million more than the previous record in California.
The previous record of $200 million was held by the sale of a different Malibu home that was purchased by Jay-Z and Beyonce in 2023.
Prior to that, the record price for a home sale in California was a home in Paradise Cove purchased by billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen for $177 million in 2021.