Google co-founder keeps Malibu’s techie takeover alive with $35M estate

The buyer of a $35 million home in Malibu once owned by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame awardee Pat Benatar is confirmed to be Google co-founder Sergey Brin, continuing the ongoing phenomenon of bigwig tech executives taking refuge in Malibu.

The home Brin purchased last year, a 6-bedroom, 6,000-square-foot property also once owned by “Scrubs” creator Bill Lawrence, sits atop a bluff in the exclusive enclave of Point Dume. The news of Brin’s purchase was first reported Sunday by the real estate news outlet Dirt.

Among the perks of this property, according to Dirt, are an infinity pool, a firepit lounge, a movie theater, a view overlooking Catalina Island and a staircase leading down to Point Dume State Beach. 

Brin, who stepped down as the president of Google parent company Alphabet in 2019, has become something of a tabloid fixture in recent years in addition to the usual coverage about him in the business press. This is Brin’s second home in Point Dume; in 2020 he purchased the first home, once owned by singer Pink, for $13.5 million with now-estranged wife Nicole Shanahan. That home, according to Dirt, is now boarded up following their separation and allegations that Shanahan had an affair with Elon Musk.

Malibu continues to be a desirable place for techies to land, likely prompted by Oracle co-founder (and island of Lanai owner) Larry Ellison, who reportedly owns up to two dozen separate properties in the beachside city. WhatsApp founder Jan Koum, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and Laurene Powell Jobs are also among the moneyed names who own multiple properties in Malibu. The median home price in Malibu, according to Zillow, is around $3.3 million — almost double the going rate in summer 2017.

The most recent techie to move into Malibu is perhaps one of the most notorious: In May, Jeff Bezos and fiancée Lauren Sanchez relocated to a cliffside home owned by saxophonist Kenny G while their Beverly Hills home awaits renovations. 

Brin’s been in the news recently for more than just marital drama: He was reportedly subpoenaed in April in connection to the suit filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands against JPMorgan Chase over its ties to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.