Isaac Larian, the toy maker and mastermind behind brands like Bratz and the Lalaloopsy dolls, snapped up the Frank Gehry-designed Borman House in Malibu Tuesday for just $24.15 million, The Real Deal has learned.
The final sales price is just half the $57.5 million the property originally asked when it first came on the market in 2013.
The home, which was was built in 1989 for PennCorp Financial CEO Burton Borman, was auctioned in a court-ordered partition sale by the heirs of the Borman estate. Borman’s ex-wife Navabeh Borman was battling with his children over the value of the property, sources said. Borman died in 2012. The deal has not yet closed.
The compound, at 31250 Broad Beach Road, includes an 11,413-square-foot main house with six bedrooms and 10 bathrooms as well as a 60-foot lap pool, a lighted tennis court and views of Malibu Beach. Signature Gehry touches include a white concrete spiral staircase.
Microsoft’s Paul Allen reportedly came close to buying the property for closer to $50 million several years ago but eventually backed out of the deal after failing to come to an agreement on price with the family.
Gehry’s Borman House
Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency brokered the deal. He called the property “irreplaceable.”
Larian did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Larian seems to be changing things up in his professional life, too. His MGA Entertainment, which owns the Bratz brand, recently broke ground on a new headquarters in a former Los Angeles Times printing plant in Chatsworth.
He has long been in battle with rival toy company Mattel. After winning a ten-year-long court battle against the Barbie-maker in 2013, MGA filed a separate lawsuit alleging Mattel employees misrepresented themselves to gain access to MGA’s private showrooms.
Subrina Hudson contributed reporting.