Billionaire David Geffen Behind Purchase Of $68 Million Los Angeles Home—Second Highest Of The Year For Southern California

David Geffen Receives UCLA Medal Of Honor At David Geffen School Of Medicine At UCLA Graduation — WESTWOOD, CA – MAY 30: David Geffen, philanthropist and entertainment mogul, received the UCLA … [+] Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the university, during the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLAs Hippocratic Oath Ceremony on May 30, 2014 at Westwood, California. The ceremony was a commencement ceremony for some 200 medical students in the Class of 2014. The UCLA Medal was established in 1979 and is the highest honor for extraordinary accomplishment that may be bestowed on an individual by UCLA. Geffen made a $200-million unrestricted gift to UCLA’s medical school in 2002. The funding helped propel the school, renamed the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA in recognition of his commitment to its current status as a world-class institution for education and research. In 2012, Geffen founded the $100-million, merit-based David Geffen Medical Scholarships. This program covers the entire cost of a medical education for nearly 20 percent of entering students, enabling them to pursue their dreams and graduate debt-free. The gift has served as a role model, inspiring other institutions to substantially increase financial support for their medical students. (Photo by Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images for UCLA)

2014 Getty Images

Earlier this year billionaire David Geffen cemented himself as a record holder in Los Angeles real estate when he sold his $165 million home to Amazon founder (and world’s richest man) Jeff Bezos—beating out all other California home sales to date.

Now Geffen has landed on the radar again by purchasing the Foothill Estate for about $68 million, according to the L.A. Times. The property had originally been asking $125 million and then came down in price to $82.5 million, but hadn’t found any takers until Geffen went into escrow on it last week. This is another property to add to the growing list of double-digit discounts for ultra-luxury homes that began when the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

Geffen is purchasing a site with extensive Hollywood history. Most of the land on which this home was built was purchased by studio executive Lew Wasserman and his wife Edie several generations ago. His grandson, Casey Wasserman (who helms the Olympic Committee for LA 2028), inherited the land and then purchased an adjoining lot—which had been previously owned by Frank Sinatra—to complete the 3.2 acre parcel. In 2016 Wasserman and his wife Laura had this 18,500-square-foot house designed by architects Richard Meier and Michel Paladino, the same names behind the famed Getty Museum.

Exterior of the Wasserman estate

Berlyn Photography

This five-bedroom, 13-bath home is a subdued contemporary design, with a slatted exterior complementing the double-height industrial style glass walls. Some of the ceiling heights reach 10 and 12 feet to add drama and an airy feel to the indoors.

Automatic steel doors open fully to the outdoors to create that signature L.A. indoor/outdoor living space.

Here is the kitchen, which deviates slightly from the wood backdrop with multi-textured tiles.

The main bedroom has a private balcony and attached closet space equal to the size of any of the bedrooms.

Here’s one of the closets:

Closet (one of them)

Berlyn Photography

Not pictured are the amenities for the home, including a 1,000-square-foot home gym, art studio, elevator, staff quarters, screening room, 85-foot outdoor infinity pool and pool house. The listing is with Stephen Shapiro at Westside Estate Agency. Geffen was represented by Kurt Rappaport, also of Westside Estate Agency, according to the L.A. Times.