Multibillionaire global sports mogul Stan Kroenke has owned a penthouse-level condo at the Maybourne Beverly Hills since 2011, when he and longtime wife Ann Walton Kroenke paid $11.3 million for a three-bedroom corner unit. But after a decade, the couple is ready to upgrade. Records reveal they’ve paid L.A. Fitness founder Louis Welch and his wife Michu an unprecedented $23.8 million for another penthouse-level condo, this one larger and more lavish than the other.
With just 20 homes spread across the building’s top three floors, the Maybourne is one of the most exclusive condo complexes in Los Angeles — and has been since the building was completed in 2008. Current residents include Judge Judy, oil heiress Ariadne Getty and Brazilian billionaire Leila Pereira. But nothing at the building has ever sold for more than $20 million; the current record was set in 2017, when the Welches paid $19.7 million for the same unit in question.
The hotel structure itself was known as the Montage prior to 2019, when the original owners sold it for $415 million to London-based Maybourne Hotel Group. While the building’s elaborate, neoclassical architecture has drawn mixed reviews since it was completed in 2008, the place is undeniably glamorous. And it’s certainly one of the most prestigious hotels in Los Angeles, towering over a prime corner in downtown Beverly Hills, just a quick skip away from Rodeo Drive.
Since Kroenke’s new condo was never publicly listed for sale, you’ll have to use your imagination to picture the interiors. But the unit is large, with four bedrooms and five bathrooms in nearly 5,000 square feet of living space, though that $23.8 million deal works out to nearly $4,900 per square foot — a huge amount of money by any standard. Perks include 24/7 concierge, private elevators, a 20,000-square-foot fitness center with massage and sauna facilities, five-star dining, a rooftop swimming pool and reservation-only bars.
Kroenke, a Missouri native whose net worth now reportedly tops $10 billion, built his initial fortune as a real estate developer via his wife’s Walmart connections — constructing massive shopping malls across the U.S., most of them anchored by Walmart stores. (Ann Walton Kroenke is a niece of Walmart founder Sam Walton, and daughter of his business partner Bud Walton.) Kroenke later parlayed his fortune into sports franchises, becoming wildly wealthy in the process — he now owns the Los Angeles Rams, the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche, and the English football (soccer) team Arsenal F.C.
From her Walmart inheritance alone, Walton Kroenke herself is estimated to be worth $8.8 billion, making the pair one of the richest couples in Southern California.
And they’ve got the real estate portfolio to match. The Kroenkes are the United States’ ninth-largest landowners, with massive working ranches around the country. Back in 2018, they also paid David and Victoria Beckham $33.8 million for a lavish Beverly Hills estate that’s currently undergoing renovations. But the couple’s longtime primary residence has been in Malibu, on the bluffs above scenic Paradise Cove, where they own two side-by-side mansions — one of them formerly owned by Julie Andrews. Kroenke acquired that Malibu property in 1998 from the estate of Dodi Fayed, the billionaire Egyptian heir who was killed in a Paris car crash with Princess Diana.
-
Image Credit: Realtor.com -
Image Credit: Realtor.com -
Image Credit: Realtor.com -
Image Credit: Realtor.com