When Jay-Z and Beyoncé broke a California document by dropping $200 million on a Malibu mansion final 12 months, a well-known identify was entrance and middle on the deal: Kurt Rappaport.
The 53-year-old actual property energy dealer represented each the consumers and the sellers within the historic sale — an accomplishment in itself that doubtless pocketed him a number of million {dollars} in commissions. However at this level, it will be stranger if Rappaport hadn’t been concerned within the transaction. He’s dealt with seven of the ten most costly house gross sales in California historical past, and the $200-million deal eclipsed the earlier excessive of $177 million, which he had set two years prior.
Uncover the change-makers who’re shaping each cultural nook of Los Angeles. This week we deliver you The Connectors, who perceive that energy doesn’t journey in a straight line and know the way to join the dots. Come again every Sunday for one more installment.
Southern California’s actual property scene is among the most profitable on the planet, and it’s undoubtedly probably the most public. Hundreds of thousands of individuals observe who’s shopping for what, the place, how a lot they paid, what number of bedrooms, and the way large the pool is. Within the age of social media, “home porn” is its personal business.
Rappaport, a Los Angeles native, sits atop all of it. In his function as Southern California’s premier actual property agent, he serves as a matchmaker of types, taking among the wealthiest and most well-known individuals on the planet and guiding them to particular properties or neighborhoods.
He additionally strikes markets. Take Malibu, which Rappaport and his most prolific consumer, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, have reworked into one of the vital costly markets on Earth over the past 20 years by shopping for dozens of properties and creating one-of-a-kind trophy houses that promote for document sums.
As Southern California’s premier actual property agent, he serves as a matchmaker of types.
Rappaport’s different shoppers have included David Geffen, Brad Pitt, Ellen DeGeneres, Ryan Seacrest and Tom Brady, amongst many, many others. Final 12 months at his French-style manor in Brentwood Park, he hosted President Biden for a roundtable assembly with California mega-donors to debate wars, divisiveness and methods to enhance the nation.
By means of a continuing circulate of emails and texts, he has the ear of virtually each noteworthy particular person seeking to purchase or promote a house round L.A., and he holds loads of affect over what and the place they store. Billions in gross sales interprets to tens of millions in taxes for native governments, so whether or not a neighborhood is sizzling or chilly can have a monumental influence.
Like wonderful artwork, a house is simply value what somebody can pay for it, and Rappaport helps dictate what that quantity is. When the following document is ready — when a billionaire pays $250 million, $300 million or $500 million for certainly one of Southern California’s best estates — Rappaport will doubtless be the one behind the deal.