Japanese home shopping CEO pays $20M for Atherton home

The CEO of a Japanese home shopping network has purchased an Atherton home at its $20 million asking price, according to public records. The deal represents the second-priciest sale in the country’s wealthiest zip code so far this year. 

Akito Takata, CEO of Japanet Holdings, paid nearly $2,000 per square foot for the six-bedroom, seven-bath mansion with more than 10,000 square feet at 81 Atherton Avenue after the price dropped from $23.5 million on March 20.

The “striking modern home” with walls of glass and polished concrete floors was built in 2017 by Lencioni Construction with architecture by Swatt Miers, according to listing agent Scott Dancer of Compass. Four parties were interested but one “rushed in [with a] full-price offer and got the house,” he said via email. 

Dancer did not name the buyer, but called him an “international CEO” planning to move to the U.S. The buyer was represented by Andy Tse and Yuriko Tse Shotter of Intero Real Estate, who declined to comment on the sale. 

Japanet has recently made moves to diversify its core home shopping business, including buying a soccer team in Nagasaki and building a new stadium with a hotel that will overlook the pitch. It also partnered with Pegasus Tech Ventures, a global venture capital firm based in San Jose that runs the annual Startup World Cup competition, in 2021 to create a $50 million venture capital fund to invest in startups around the world.

The home’s sellers were Rajeev and Katy Amara, who bought the 1-acre property in 2013 for $5.3 million, according to public records. Rajeev Amara is the CEO of Arcline Investment Management, a private equity firm with $8.6 billion in capital commitments, according to his LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn shows Amara as based in Nashville, Tennessee, which could be one reason the home has been listed off and on since 2021. 

Dancer declined to comment on his clients’ motivations for selling just a few years after building their custom estate, which in addition to the main home, has a detached three-car garage with EV charging, heated terraces, a sport court, playground, pool, spa and fire pit. 

Atherton luxury sales have been on a roll this year, after a slower latter half of 2022. At $20 million, this the second-biggest deal in Atherton this year, after a developer picked up a 2.5-acre estate for $25 million in January. A 2.5-acre vacant lot in West Atherton near Menlo Park that came to market over a year ago for $26.5 million also went into contract this month.