They say the rich only get richer, and almost nobody had a more profitable, pandemic-assisted blockbuster 2020 than Subrah Iyar. The Mumbai-born tech tycoon, reportedly one of the first three investors in Zoom, saw the value of his multimillion-dollar stake more than quintuple over the past year, with the video conferencing company’s market cap at one point topping an eyeball-shredding $130 billion.
Iyar, 63, has now reinvested some of those ballooned winnings into luxury real estate. Records reveal he’s tossed down a total of $14.5 million for two separate mansions on L.A.’s scenic Palos Verdes Peninsula. The two houses, one a $7.8 million Tuscan-style villa and the other a $6.7 million, slightly smaller Tuscan-style villa, are not contiguous but happen to sit on the very same blufftop street, about five houses apart from one another. Both properties are blessed with unobstructed views of the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island.
While it’s not yet clear why Iyar, long based in California’s Silicon Valley, suddenly wants or needs two lavish homes in the L.A. area, it’s a logical guess that the properties may have acquired for his two adult daughters, Leena and Nikhita, both of whom appeared in Netflix’s “The Big Day” wedding docuseries. The sisters — both recently married to twin brothers — both celebrated their nuptials with million-dollar, gala-style events, and all the glitzy extravagance was photographed for Vogue India.
Iyar himself can easily afford a seven-figure wedding bill, or two, thanks to his storied career in tech. In the 1980s, he worked for Apple, before jumping to Intel in ’89. In 1996, he cofounded web conferencing firm WebEx, which was sold to Cisco in 2007 for $3.2 billion in cash. Several years later, Iyar founded Moxtra, another digital conferencing solutions provider, though he remains best-known for his involvement with Zoom, where he serves as a strategic advisor.
Photos: The Luxury Level
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Image Credit: The Luxury Level Built in 1989, the larger house offers nearly 7,900 square feet of living space, with 6 bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms. Secreted behind gates, there’s a large motorcourt and an oversized attached garage with ample room for two cars plus additional toys (bikes, mopeds, possibly a Peloton or two.)
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Image Credit: The Luxury Level Inside, the decor is best described as generically luxurious but obviously dated. The main floor includes several crystal chandeliers, including two in the unusually shaped foyer. Amenities include a large office with built-in bookshelves, a fireplace-equipped living room, and an upgraded kitchen with top-of-the-line Wolf and SubZero appliances that opens to a formal dining room and breakfast nook, the latter with ocean views.
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Image Credit: The Luxury Level -
Image Credit: The Luxury Level -
Image Credit: The Luxury Level -
Image Credit: The Luxury Level -
Image Credit: The Luxury Level There’s also a family room with glass sliding doors to the backyard, plus another large fireplace.
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Image Credit: The Luxury Level Secluded in its own wing, the master suite sports a sitting area and more ocean views.
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Image Credit: The Luxury Level But the real value in this property — and the reason for the $7.8 million pricetag — is the land itself. The unusually large blufftop lot spans 1.66 acres, all of them landscaped with a maze-like assortment of hedges and formal gardens. There’s also a substantial lawn big enough for a soccer pitch, and a swimming pool set into a concrete patio.
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Image Credit: The Luxury Level -
Image Credit: The Luxury Level -
Image Credit: The Luxury Level Also out back are a BBQ and outdoor kitchen servicing a firepit and adjoining seating area.
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Image Credit: The Luxury Level -
Image Credit: The Luxury Level -
Image Credit: The Luxury Level As for the second house, the $6.7 million property, it’s remarkably similar in size and style to the first house. Also built in 1989, the Mediterranean-inspired manse tips the scales with just over 7,600 square feet of living space. Like the first estate, it’s also got 6 beds and 6.5 baths, although the lot is smaller — only .64-acre.
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Image Credit: The Luxury Level The listing makes no secret that the value of this property is also in the location and the view, calling it a “rare estate” with “ocean and Catalina Island views.”
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Image Credit: The Luxury Level Nick Peters and Larson Real Estate group, both of Engel & Volkers, held the listing on the $7.8 million property; Mingli Wang of Keller Williams held the listing on the $6.7 million house. Audrey Judson of Strand Hill Christie’s International Real Estate repped Iyar on both purchases.
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Image Credit: The Luxury Level