Investment banker Ken Moelis adds to his Malibu portfolio

Investment banker Ken Moelis paid $21.5 million for his neighbor’s Malibu beach house, adding to his portfolio in the community that has seen a flurry of deals lately. In addition to their latest purchase, Moelis and his wife, Julie, own a home in Beverly Hills and a 9,200-square-foot penthouse in Manhattan.

The sale for the 4,631-square-foot Malibu home closed last month, according to Dirt.com.

The seller was real estate investor Gary Simons, who bought the property at 23762 Malibu Road in 2017, according to the report. Simons rented the five-bedroom, five-bathroom house for as much as $42,000 per month.

The Mediterranean-style home was built in 1986 and comes with renderings for a complete overhaul.

Moelis and his wife Julie bought the beach house next door in 1996, for $3.2 million. Their main property is a two-acre estate in Beverly Hills. In 2018, they bought the Manhattan penthouse at 520 Park Avenue for $62 million. The tower and several surrounding residential buildings are commonly known as “Billionaires’ Row.”

Malibu was one of the most active markets in Los Angeles County last year and that trend has continued in 2021. Beach houses are among the city’s most sought-after properties. Last month, cosmetics entrepreneur Chris Tawil flipped his Malibu beach house for a multimillion-dollar profit. Matthew Perry sold his beach house last month for $13 million.

Moelis, who in 2018 was listed as a billionaire, has been in investment banking for decades. In 2007, he founded his namesake firm Moelis & Company. Among the people he has advised are Donald Trump, well before he became president. Moelis and Trump once settled the terms of a financing deal with a coin flip.

[Variety] — Dennis Lynch