Kanye West cuts price of Malibu Mansion to $39 million (he bought it for $57 million)

In 2003, Richard Sachs, a financier/real estate speculator, paid $1.3 million for an oceanfront property in Malibu. He demolished the existing structure and then commissioned Japanese architect Tadao Ando to build a 400-square-meter mansion made entirely of poured concrete.

Ando’s architecture is known for its clean lines, geometric shapes and minimalist aesthetic. He avoids excessive decoration and focuses on creating a sense of space and proportion. Most importantly, Ando embraces raw concrete, a material often seen as cold and industrial.

As you may have guessed, concrete is much heavier than wood. In order for the Malibu sand on the beach to support an exceptionally heavy three-story structure, twelve pylons had to be driven 60 feet into the ground. Then 1,200 tons of concrete were poured into 200 tons of steel reinforcement.

Construction took a decade. When it was finished, Richard Sachs said the following:

“This is not just any house. This looks like a cubist painting by Picasso, very important and very rare.”

Here’s what this so-called ‘Picasso Cubist painting’ looks like from Google Street View:

Sachs put the house up for sale in April 2020 for $75 million.

Enter Kanye West.

Kanye West has long been a big fan of Tadao Ando’s work. He describes a visit to Ando’s art island in Naoshima, Japan, as “life-changing.”

In September 2021, Kanye paid $57 million for Richard Sachs’ concrete Malibu home in Tadao Ando.

At the time, the then-billionaire probably felt like he got it for a bargain, saving $18 million on the original sale price. And perhaps, with that good feeling fueling his ambitions, Kanye proceeded to completely renovate the project. This renovation project did not go well. Today the house is described as ‘ruined’ and ‘decaying’. It reportedly has no plumbing, electricity or HVAC.

For whatever reason, Kanye not only doesn’t want to complete the renovation he started, he no longer wants to own the house at all.

(Photo by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images)

Kanye first put the mansion on the market at the beginning of this year with an asking price of $53 million. Perhaps because the house is highly unusual in the first place AND is currently in a somewhat “abandoned” state, no buyers have come forward yet. As such, Kanye just dropped the price again.

Today the house can be yours $39 million. If he finds a buyer for the price, it will mean a LOSS of $18 million for Mr. West. And just to remind you, that would coincidentally be the same amount he “saved” when he paid $57 million, compared to the original purchase price of $75 million. But of course, that still doesn’t take into account the millions Kanye likely spent on the renovation, plus things like taxes, insurance and more. If he somehow gets $39 million, this outing could easily mean a total loss of $25 million.