Last September (2018), David & Victoria Beckham sold their longtime LA home for $33,142,500 in an all-cash deal. Though Yolanda had heard rumblings that the transaction was goin’ down, it took us several long months to sort out the buyer’s identity. That’s surprising because, well, there are very few folks in LA who can afford to pay $33 million cash for a house.
But before we get to the buyers, let’s have a wee history lesson. Way back in 2007, the Beckhams paid $18,200,000 for a brand-new spec mansion in Beverly Hills.
The 11,500-square-foot Mediterranean-style structure was built by businessman Kent Kresa and designed by Tim Morrison, a talented fella who also did up a nearby $22 million Beverly Hills mansion. The H-shaped Beckham home has six fireplaces, six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a courtyard off its north end, and a swimming pool and mature canary palms on the southern side. Situated on one of the most private lots in Beverly Hills, the mansion is located behind iron gates and up an epic long driveway, completely invisible from the street out front.
Within two years of their purchase, the Beckhams had (allegedly) tired of their 90210 digs and rumors proclaimed that they were interested in dumping the property. However — so the stories go — the couple discovered their home had depreciated by millions of dollars since the 2007 purchase. Rather than selling at a loss, they elected to hold onto the estate for years to come — a decision that would prove wise (and inordinately lucrative) indeed.
Back in 2016, the Platinum Triangle gossip grapevine ran amok with talk that multi-billionaire sports mogul Stan Kroenke and his multi-billionaire heiress wife Ann Walton Kroenke were interested in acquiring the Beckhams’ Beverly Hills property. But alas — for reasons that Yolanda ain’t privy to — the deal fell through.
And yet the Kroenkes must’ve wanted the Beckham abode quite badly. As we’ve already mentioned, the house eventually sold for the $33+ million a couple years later (in 2018), and it turns out that the LLC-shielded buyers are — you guessed it — none other than Mr. and Mrs. Kroenke. It seems they came back for seconds and weren’t gonna take no for an answer this time.
Our Mr. Kroenke made his initial fortune as a real estate investor, developing Midwest shopping centers anchored by Walmart super-centers. Those developments made him a billionaire and provided the funding for his quest to become an international sports tycoon.
Today, Mr. Kroenke is likely best-known (at least here in Southern California) as the owner of the Los Angeles Rams NFL team. Depending on how the Rams perform this weekend, they could be playing in the upcoming Super Bowl, their first appearance since 2002.
Y’all may know that the Rams relocated to LA from Missouri a couple years back, a controversial decision that did sit well with certain folks, including Bravo TV’s own St. Louis native Andy Cohen. Oh dear.
Mr. Kroenke is also a household name in the UK, where he owns the Arsenal professional football club. Unfortunately, however, Mr. Kroenke is reportedly none too popular with most of Arsenal’s fans. Particularly since reports emerged confirming he has not invested a penny of his own fortune — $8.5 billion, per Forbes — into the club. Arsenal fans have been furious at their “cheapskate” owner ever since.
In addition to the Rams and Arsenal, Mr. Kroenke owns a number of other professional sports franchises: the NLL’s Colorado Mammoth, the MLS’s Colorado Rapids and the esports team Los Angeles Gladiators among them.
Despite his high profile, our boy is known to be a somewhat reclusive chap. He’s popularly known by his nickname “Silent Stan” Kroenke, a reference to the fact that he almost never grants media interviews.
So how did a Midwestern boy from Missouri grow up to be a feared (and revered) multi-billionaire real estate and sports mogul? The answer, kids, is that Mr. Kroenke made his initial fortune the old-fashioned way. He married into money.
Now in her early 70s, Ann Walton Kroenke is a niece of Sam Walton, founder of the whole Walmart shebang. With Walmart shares currently ridin’ high, Forbes says Mrs. Kroenke’s net worth has soared to lofty new levels — $6.6 billion, to be exact.
In addition to all that moolah, it’s long been held that the Waltons are the wealthiest family in all the world. Their unfathomable collective fortune, y’all, is conservatively estimated at somewhere between $150 billion and $175 billion. They’re richer than Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, the Koch brothers. Everyone on the planet.
Just to give y’all a more tangible idea of how rich these folks are, in 2017 alone the family reaped approximately $3.2 billion in Walmart dividends.
Mrs. Kroenke is the older sister of Nancy Walton Laurie, who currently presides over one of Bel air’s largest compounds. She’s also the aunt of Paige Laurie, who recently splurged with a $41.5 million home purchase in the 90210. And with her husband, she’s got two adult children in their late 30s and early 40s — Josh and Whitney Ann.
Like her hubby, Mrs. Kroenke is also a sports mogul — she’s the sole owner of both the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.
But anywho. Unfortunately, since the Beverly Hills house purchase was totally off-market, Yolanda does not have any photos of the Kroenkes’ new digs. We do know, however, that this is not their only residence in the city. And the family also owns a plethora of other properties scattered across the USA. So in the absence of Beckham home photos, let’s discuss those other residences.
Back in 2014, the Kroenkes paid $11,250,000 for a condo unit atop the five-star Montage hotel in downtown Beverly Hills, arguably the most expensive condo complex in LA. Some of their big-nam neighbors include Judge Judy, oil heiress Ariadne Getty and reclusive LA Fitness CEO Louis Welch.
As far as we know, the Kroenkes’ main residence has long been their nearly 5-acre blufftop compound above Malibu’s sensational Paradise Cove. The property stretches from the PCH all the way to the sand and includes both a contemporary mansion and a Mediterranean-style residence. The latter was previously owned by Dodi Fayed, the onetime lover of Princess Diana.
Mr. Fayed reportedly purchased the Malibu property as a lovenest for himself and Her Royal Highness. Those plans were sadly cut short, however, after both were killed in an infamous 1997 automobile crash.
As for the Kroenkes’ kids, they both have homes in the Hollywood Hills. Josh Kroenke’s got a $15.4 million contemporary mansion just above the Sunset Strip, while Whitney Kroenke has a renovated nest in the nearby Bird Streets.
Mr. Kroenke reportedly met his future wife during a 1971 ski trip to Aspen, so naturally the pair keep a lavish vacation property there. In 2011, they slammed down $20,750,000 for this contemporary complex.
In 2012, the Kroenkes famously bought Montana’s Broken O Ranch, an enormous 124,000-acre estate that included 4,500 head of cattle and 20 miles of river flow. The property was marketed as having land “stretching as far as the eye can see”.
Mr. Kroenke is famed as one of the USA’s largest landowners — he additionally owns 510,000 acres of Texas ranch land, among other rural property holdings.
And finally, the Kroenkes have an enormous estate in their hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. The mega-mansion main house — built in a swollen Traditional/Colonial style — sits on 84 acres of manicured grounds and features its own private lake.
Stan Kroenke & Ann Walton’s agent: Blair Chang, The Agency