Markus Persson, the Swedish entrepreneur behind the widely popular video game "Minecraft," has listed his Beverly Hills mansion for $70 million, marking one of the most expensive property offerings in Los Angeles County this year. Persson originally purchased the expansive estate in 2014 for the same price, a notable detail given the significant appreciation in the median Los Angeles home over the past decade.
The property, situated on an acre with panoramic views of Los Angeles, spans approximately 22,300 square feet and includes eight bedrooms and 15 bathrooms. It features a range of luxury amenities, including an elevator, a movie theater, a swimming pool, a $200,000 candy room, and a 2,500-bottle wine cellar stocked with premium selections such as Dom Perignon. The home also includes unique additions by Persson himself, including a recording studio and a private nightclub equipped with a DJ booth. Among the home's art and design elements is a chrome machine gun installation, underscoring its distinctive character.
Persson acquired the residence from Bruce Makowsky, a developer noted for outfitting properties with extravagant amenities. Previous Makowsky listings have included collections of exotic vehicles and rare luxury items. Despite the luxury features and the high asking price, the $70 million figure represents no increase over Persson’s original purchase price, reflecting the cooling trends in Los Angeles’s high-end real estate market compared to the boom in spec homes observed nearly a decade ago.
Should the property sell at the asking price, it would rank as the highest-priced home sale in Beverly Hills this year and the second-most expensive in Los Angeles County, trailing only Casa Encantada, a Bel-Air estate purchased by former PayPal CEO Peter Thiel in a foreclosure auction for $130 million.
Listing agent Aaron Kirman noted that buyers in the ultra-luxury market search for homes that offer exclusivity and features that are difficult to replicate, rather than simply a residence. Kirman added that Persson is selling the property because he no longer spends much time in Los Angeles.
Reports indicate that the real estate transaction initially drew interest from entertainers Jay-Z and Beyoncé, who toured the home multiple times in 2014 but ultimately chose to purchase a separate $88-million mansion in Bel-Air a few years later.
Persson, widely known by his gaming alias “Notch,” founded Mojang Studios in 2009 and released "Minecraft" in 2011. The game has since become the best-selling video game of all time. In 2014, Persson sold Mojang to Microsoft for $2.5 billion.
The listing is jointly represented by Aaron Kirman and Katia De Los Reyes of Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California, along with Branden Williams and Rayni Williams of Beverly Hills Estates.