Once again, it’s time to pop champagne and look back on the most expensive celebrity real estate transactions of the year. One legendary singer secured a sprawling Swiss vacation home, other A-listers put down roots in Los Angeles, and other stars bought and flipped luxe plots of land for a handsome profit (we’re looking at you, Ellen). Below, we reflect on the most expensive celebrity transactions that we had our eyes on in 2022.
Ryan Seacrest, $51 million
Television personality Ryan Seacrest first listed his glassy Beverly Hills estate in 2020 for a whopping $85 million but was unable to close a deal. He lowered the price to $74.5 million in 2021, before finally selling the house last month for $51 million—a deep price cut but still impressive enough to bring up the rear of our list. Considering the American Idol host paid $36.5 million when he bought the AD-toured home from Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi in 2012, it’s likely that he still made out with a good chunk of change from the sale.
Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo, $51 million
In May, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine and his wife, model Behati Prinsloo, sold their 1930s Cliff May–designed Pacific Palisades home (which AD toured last year) for $51 million—$6.5 million under their initial ask, but almost $20 million more than the couple paid in 2018 when they bought the 10-bedroom and 14-bathroom dwelling from none other than Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, who lived there for nearly a decade until their 2017 divorce.
Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo, $52 million
Right around the same time that they listed their Pacific Palisades pad, Levine and Prinsloo paid $52 million for a Montecito estate known as Oakview. The Georgian-style structure was built for Rob Lowe in 2009 and graced the cover of Architectural Digest’s November 2010 issue. The 3.5-acre property holds a 10,000-square-foot main house, two well-appointed ADUs, a swimming pool, and a tennis court.
Adele/Sylvester Stallone, $58 million
Adele set the bar high when she kicked off 2022 with the $58 million purchase of Sylvester Stallone’s Beverly Hills mansion. The hefty sum was actually a bit of a bargain compared to the initial $110 million price tag the Rocky star placed on the contemporary Mediterranean-style house when he first listed it in January 2021. Inside, the eight-bedroom structure boasts a theater, a cigar room, and a custom bar. The 3.5-acre property also notably features a two-story Richard Landry–designed guest house.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, $70 million
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Hollywood couple Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi made the list: The real estate-loving duo earned two spots in last year’s top 10. The pair bought and sold multiple houses in 2022, but the Carpenteria property that they just bought this month for $70 million was by far the priciest. Made up of two parcels totaling 10 acres, the oceanside estate hosts a sprawling Tuscan-style mansion, a small lake, and plenty of outdoor entertaining space. The sale marked the most expensive real estate transaction ever recorded in the area.
Kim Kardashian, $70.4 million
In September, Kim Kardashian paid Yellowstone actress Barret Swatek and her husband, investor Adam Weiss, $70.4 million for their beachside Malibu estate, which previously belonged to Cindy Crawford. Kardashian secured the Mediterranean-style villa, which features wraparound decks with panoramic ocean views, for $29.1 million less than the initial asking price.
Drake/Robbie Williams, $75 million
Rumors started swirling at the beginning of March, and records finally confirmed that rapper Drake paid $75 million for singer Robbie Williams’s 20-acre Tuscan-style estate in Beverly Crest, Los Angeles. The Toronto native snagged the property (his first in LA) for $10 million lower than the original asking price. The living space is a sprawling 24,000 square feet, plus a guest house and an 11-car garage.
Tina Turner, $76 million
In January, rock icon Tina Turner and her husband, German music executive Erwin Bach, spent $76 million on an estate in Switzerland. The 5.5-acre compound has 10 buildings plus private waterfront land on Lake Zurich, a pool, a private pond and stream, and a boat deck. Bach told a local publication that they intend to use the sprawling property as a “weekend retreat.”
Evan Spiegel and Miranda Kerr, $145 million
In August, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel and his wife, model Miranda Kerr, finally closed the deal on a $120 million Holmby Hills mansion after nearly two years in escrow. The tech billionaire and former Victoria’s Secret Angel paid an additional $25 million for a neighboring parcel of land, bumping up the estate’s price tag to $145 million. The sale of the property, which sits across from the famed Playboy Mansion, is one of the most expensive on record for a California home.
Larry Ellison, $173 million
This year’s top spot comes from another tech billionaire, Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison. Over the summer, the software mogul dropped $173 million on a 62,200-square-foot Palm Beach County mansion, along with a seven-bedroom guest house, two beach cottages, and a manager’s house—all connected via an underground tunnel system. The sale is the most expensive real estate transaction ever made in Florida. Later that summer, Ellison put his nearby Tuscan-style Palm Beach estate on the market for $145 million.
