After he was turned loose by ESPN and spent three months as a free agent, firebrand sports media hyphenate Bill Simmons inked a multiyear, multiplatform contract with HBO, which includes hosting a weekly talk show that will begin airing in 2016. And, so swears wickedly well-informed real estate yenta Yolanda Yakketyyak, the veteran journalist and popular podcaster celebrated his no-doubt lucrative deal with an under-the-radar, off-market acquisition of a humbly sized if certainly pricey $7.5 million beach house along Malibu’s billionaire-lined Carbon Beach.
The property in question was not listed on the open market, so details are slight, but Los Angeles County Tax records and other resources show the not-quite 1,500-square-foot, two-story cedar-shingled residence, purchased via trust, was originally built in 1950, with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. There’s a small walled, gated and tree-shaded courtyard at the front, a slender oceanside balcony on the upper floor, and a wide row of French doors on the lower level that open to a deep oceanfront deck with sunken hot tub. Among the other rich and powerful who maintain getaways on what is arguably Malibu’s most coveted stretch of sand are David Geffen, Leslie Moonves and Julie Chen, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Joel Silver and, of course, tech tycoon Larry Ellison, who lays claim to at least nine of the 70-ish homes that line that stretch of beach.
Property records show that Simmons and his wife, Kari, continue to own a 4,200-square-foot, English cottage-style home with five bedrooms and four bathrooms in L.A.’s historic Hancock Park, purchased in 2007 for $3.1 million.
