Peter Thiel revealed as secret buyer of Bel Air mansion that sold for $130m

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel has been revealed as the new owner of a storied Bel-Air estate that quietly sold in July for a staggering $130m.

The 1938 mansion, Casa Encantada, was sold at an open-air foreclosure auction in Pomona, with the name of the buyer kept under wraps for months. The winning bid is now revealed to have come from a limited liability company linked to the venture capitalist and PayPal and Palantir co-founder, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the buyer’s identity .

The sale of the 40,000sq ft estate is the most expensive in Los Angeles so far this year, though it is far less than the previous asking price. The former owner, late telecom mogul Gary Winnick, wanted $225m for the property in 2019 and $250m in 2023, making it the priciest home in the US at the time. Winnick died in 2023 amid a mountain of debt.

Peter Thiel in Berlin, Germany on 24 September 2026. Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images

Set on around 8.4 acres of land, the stately property overlooks the Bel-Air Country Club and boasts grand Deco-Hollywood interiors with seven bedrooms, 20 bathrooms, multiple dining rooms and lounges, a walnut-paneled library, a tennis court, terraced gardens, a 60ft tiled swimming pool and a two-storey guesthouse.

Other previous owners include hotel magnate Conrad Hilton, who bought it in 1950, and billionaire David Murdock, who purchased it in 1980 for a record $12.4m. It set a second price record in 2000 when it sold to Winnick for $94m.

According to the Journal’s report, Thiel had been considering the mega-mansion for months before the auction, though he does not plan to live there. Rather he sees the property as an investment and plans to upgrade it. The purchase adds to his sprawling real estate portfolio that spans three continents, including compounds in Hawaii and New Zealand, homes in Miami and Washington DC, and a recently acquired mansion in the most exclusive neighbourhood in Buenos Aires. He reportedly relocated his primary residence from California to south Florida last year amid a wealth tax debate in the Golden State.

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