Coupon Mogul George Ruan Sells Bel-Air Estate for $112M

UPDATED SEPT. 13 at 2:45 p.m.:

Online coupon mogul George Ruan has sold a 21,000-square-foot home in Bel-Air for $112 million, among the priciest deals in Los Angeles.

The co-founder of the Downtown-based Honey traded the 1.15-acre hilltop estate at 10721 Stradella Court, the Wall Street Journal reported. The buyer was undisclosed.

Brokers Aaron Kirman, Kirby Gillon and Bryce Lowe of Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California held the initial listing.

The off-market deal comes during a slowdown of luxury deals due to L.A.’s “mansion tax,” or Measure ULA, which requires sellers to pay 4 percent on homes between $5.15 million and $10.3 million, and 5.5 percent on properties at $10.3 million or above.

Ruan bought the unfinished house in 2020 for $60 million, then completed a multi-million dollar makeover.

The nine-bedroom, 11-bathroom mansion, designed by South Africa-based SAOTA and Mid-Wilshire-based Woods + Dangaran, has sweeping views of the city and the Pacific Ocean.

The two-story concrete home has a media room, library, powder room and a gym, with a pool and spa that jut over a steep embankment. A dining room features wood panels that can pivot to close off the room. The estate has parking for 10 cars, according to Zillow.

There’s also a one-bedroom guesthouse with its own pool.

In 2022, Ruan listed the home for $150 million, then removed it nine months later.

Its sale for $140 million doesn’t come near the $210 million that Eyeglasses mogul James Jannard fetched in June for a nearly 10-acre estate in Malibu, shattering the state record.

In 2022, Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, paid $133 million for a 5-acre estate with a 19,000-square-foot mansion and a 6,600-square-foot “guest mansion” in Bel-Air. In 2020, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos bought a 9-acre estate in nearby Beverly Hills for $165 million, a then-state record.

In 2012, Ruan co-founded Honey, which helps consumers find discount codes for online purchases, according to the newspaper. In 2020, the year he bought his Bel-Air estate, he sold Honey to PayPal Holdings for $4 billion. He’s now an active angel investor in more than 50 companies.

Correction: Previous story had an incorrect price for the property; it was later updated by Wall Street Journal.

— Dana Bartholomew