David Geffen zeroes in on the Wasserman estate in Beverly Hills
Talk about your gold-medal affair. Entertainment mogul David Geffen is in escrow to purchase the Beverly Hills home of Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee president Casey Wasserman, according to real estate sources not authorized to comment on the deal.
No sale price is known, but the property was last listed publicly for $82.5 million with Westside Estate Agency’s Stephen Shapiro. Shapiro declined to comment when reached by phone on Friday.
Perched in a prime location above Sunset Boulevard, the modern mansion sits on 3.25 acres of lawns and lush landscaping. A striking concoction of stone, glass and white oak, it was designed by Pritzker-winning architect Richard Meier, whose other notable works include the Getty Center and the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art.
Gallery-like living spaces lined with automated steel doors fill the three-story home. There’s an indoor-outdoor great room, an open-concept dining area, a movie theater, a gym, an art studio and a sleek chef’s kitchen with an oversize center island.
The museum-like, 18,543-square-foot interior also holds six bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, including a master suite with a private deck. Two staircases and an elevator navigate the floors. Outside, an entertainment deck adjoins an 85-foot tiled infinity pool. A pool house with sliding walls of glass completes the park-like property.
Geffen, who was last seen riding out the pandemic in his $590-million super-yacht, is no stranger to big real estate deals. Earlier this year, the music and film executive made headlines when he sold his Beverly Hills mansion to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for $165 million.
The massive deal, which set records for both Los Angeles County and the state, was preceded by Geffen’s $30-million purchase a year ago of an undeveloped acre in a stretch of Beverly Hills known as “Billionaires Row.” Two years before that, the billionaire sold his compound on Carbon Beach for $85 million, which was a Malibu record at the time.
The 77-year-old Geffen is known for founding the music labels Asylum Records, Geffen Records and DGC Records, which is now Interscope Geffen A&M Records. In 1990, he co-founded DreamWorks Pictures with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Wasserman founded his eponymous sports marketing and talent management company in 1998. His entertainment ventures have included ownership of the Los Angeles Avengers, part of the Arena Football League, which folded in 2009.
After spearheading L.A.’s bid for the 2028 Olympics, Wasserman now serves as president of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee.
