A spectacular Malibu mansion with one of the most bizarre ownership histories in California real estate has just found another extraordinarily wealthy buyer. The sprawling 16-acre property, which overlooks the Malibu Pier and Pacific Ocean, sold in June 2026 for an eye-popping $93.5 million. The buyer, according to newly published real estate reporting, is the family behind Chrome Hearts, the ultra-exclusive luxury fashion empire created by motorcycle enthusiast Richard Stark.
If the name Chrome Hearts doesn’t immediately ring a bell, you’ve almost certainly seen its products. The brand’s distinctive silver jewelry, leather jackets, designer sunglasses, and gothic-inspired clothing have been worn by everyone from Cher and Rihanna to Drake, Bella Hadid, and countless other celebrities. The company has become a multibillion-dollar luxury fashion phenomenon while remaining largely controlled by Stark and his family.
But even in a city famous for expensive celebrity real estate, this particular mansion has a history that almost defies belief.
Twenty years ago, the property belonged to Teodoro Nguema Obiang, the son of the president of Equatorial Guinea, who purchased it for $30 million despite officially earning less than $100,000 annually as a government minister. The estate was subsequently surrendered as part of a federal corruption settlement, sold to an investment group that included “Real Housewives” husband Mauricio Umansky, and flipped for nearly $70 million in a transaction that sparked years of litigation.
Now, with a $93.5 million sale, the property’s remarkable financial journey has entered another chapter.
Inside The $93.5 Million Malibu Mansion
Located at 3620 Sweetwater Mesa Road in Malibu’s exclusive, gated Serra Retreat community, the property occupies approximately 16 acres of prime coastal hillside overlooking Malibu Lagoon, Surfrider Beach, and the Pacific Ocean.
The main residence, built in 1991, is a massive Spanish hacienda-style mansion encompassing 14,995 square feet. The horseshoe-shaped home features six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, red clay tile roofing, expansive entertaining areas, and sweeping ocean views.
A winding palm-lined driveway leads to a circular motor court, passing landscaped grounds and a large decorative pond. The property also includes several additional buildings, guest accommodations, a swimming pool, tennis court, and an elaborate private three-hole golf course complete with fairways, greens, and sand traps.
The golf course is a particularly unusual feature for Malibu, where ocean views and proximity to the beach typically command the biggest premiums. Here, the enormous acreage provides something even more difficult to find: genuine privacy on a scale usually associated with large country estates.
Although the property is frequently described as a beachfront mansion, the residence actually sits high above the coastline rather than directly on the sand. Its elevated position provides spectacular views of the surrounding beaches and coastline.
The following videos provide a tour of the extraordinary estate:
The African President’s Son Who Bought The Mansion For $30 Million
The property’s most notorious former owner was Teodoro Nguema Obiang, commonly known as Teodorín, whose father, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has ruled Equatorial Guinea since overthrowing his uncle in a military coup in 1979.
Equatorial Guinea is a small Central African country that experienced an enormous economic boom following major offshore oil discoveries in the 1990s. Billions of dollars in petroleum revenues poured into the country, although much of its population continued to live in poverty.
Teodorín, who served as agriculture and forestry minister, became internationally notorious for an astonishing collection of luxury possessions. His holdings included a $38 million private jet, rare Ferraris and Lamborghinis, expensive artwork, a spectacular Paris mansion, and millions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia associated with Michael Jackson.
In April 2006, he added the Malibu estate to his collection, paying $30 million through a company called Sweetwater Malibu LLC.
The purchase immediately attracted attention because his official government salary was reportedly just $5,000 per month, or $60,000 annually. At that salary, it would have taken him 500 years of earnings to accumulate the mansion’s purchase price, without spending a penny on anything else.
The property’s security arrangements were almost as extraordinary as the purchase itself. Local reporting described the estate as being guarded by personnel from Equatorial Guinea, some reportedly carrying automatic weapons.
American investigators eventually alleged that Teodorín had accumulated more than $300 million in assets through corruption and money laundering, using his government position to extract payments from companies operating in his father’s country.
In October 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a civil forfeiture settlement requiring Teodorín to relinquish more than $30 million in assets, including the Malibu mansion, a Ferrari, and certain pieces of Michael Jackson memorabilia.
The settlement stipulated that substantial proceeds would be directed toward programs benefiting the people of Equatorial Guinea.
A Real Housewife’s Husband Gets Involved
In 2015, Teodorín and the U.S. government selected luxury real estate broker Mauricio Umansky to sell the Malibu property.
Umansky, the founder of The Agency, was already one of Los Angeles’ prominent luxury brokers. He was also well known to television audiences through his marriage to Kyle Richards, a longtime star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
According to reporting and subsequent legal proceedings, the seller wanted the transaction handled discreetly, without publicly advertising the property. Umansky received several offers and ultimately arranged a deal with luxury property developer Mauricio Oberfeld.
The purchase closed in June 2016. Public property records show a transaction price of $33.5 million, although subsequent litigation described a $1 million repair credit that reduced the effective purchase price to $32.5 million.
Oberfeld and his partners subsequently undertook an extensive renovation, pouring millions of dollars into improvements and preparing the mansion for resale. Property records identified a $26 million construction trust deed associated with the redevelopment.
In March 2017, just nine months after the original purchase, the investors sold the mansion for an astonishing $69.9 million.
The price was more than double what the group had paid.
And there was another twist: Umansky, who had originally represented the seller, turned out to have been an investor in the group that purchased and flipped the property.
That revelation helped trigger a legal dispute involving the original seller, Umansky, his business partners, and another potential buyer named Sam Hakim. The litigation centered on allegations that Umansky had failed to disclose important information about another buyer’s willingness to pay more for the mansion.
Umansky and The Agency denied wrongdoing, maintaining that the original sale had been properly handled and that the property had sold above its appraised value.
The litigation continued for years before the remaining claims were settled in December 2023, avoiding a civil trial.
The investors’ $69.9 million buyer was a company registered in the British Virgin Islands called Malibu LaMalibu SA. Subsequent reporting identified the purchaser behind the company as Hong Kong heiress Karen Lo, whose family was associated with the Vitasoy beverage business.
That offshore company remained the property’s recorded owner until the latest sale.
The Mansion Sells Again For $93.5 Million
On June 11, 2026, the Malibu estate sold for $93.5 million That’s $23.6 million more than the previous sale price of $69.9 million, representing an increase of nearly 34% over nine years
The sale initially attracted attention because the buyer’s identity was not publicly disclosed. Then, in November 2026, luxury real estate publication North Hillcrest reported that the buyer was the Stark family behind Chrome Hearts.
The Starks have not publicly detailed the ownership arrangement, and the public property records available online do not independently identify the individual buyer. Nevertheless, the newly reported connection fits a longstanding pattern of major Malibu acquisitions by Richard Stark and his wife, Laurie Lynn.
Who Is Richard Stark, The Man Behind Chrome Hearts?
Richard Stark isn’t a household name in the same way as the celebrities who wear his creations. But within the fashion industry, he is the driving force behind one of the most successful independently controlled luxury brands in the world.
Stark grew up in Utica, New York, and originally trained as a carpenter. He eventually became a leather wholesaler, supplying high-quality hides to manufacturers. An avid motorcyclist, he developed an interest in creating durable leather riding gear that looked as good as it performed.
In 1988, Stark launched Chrome Hearts in a Los Angeles garage with fellow motorcycle enthusiasts John Bowman and Leonard Kamhout. The company initially specialized in leather jackets and riding accessories, but its distinctive look emerged when Kamhout began adding elaborate sterling silver hardware, gothic crosses, and other metal decorations.
The combination of premium leather, intricate craftsmanship, and rebellious styling quickly attracted attention from rock musicians and Hollywood celebrities.
One of Stark’s earliest celebrity encounters involved Cher. According to a 2022 GQ profile, Stark approached the singer in 1988 and attempted to sell her a custom leather guitar strap for $5,000.
Cher thought the price was outrageous and initially turned him down. But she remembered the exceptional quality of the craftsmanship and eventually became one of Chrome Hearts’ most prominent early supporters.
Stark eventually bought out his original business partners, and his wife, Laurie Lynn Stark, joined the company in 1994. Together, they transformed Chrome Hearts from a motorcycle accessories operation into a global luxury lifestyle business.
Today, its products include jewelry, clothing, sunglasses, handbags, furniture, and extremely expensive custom creations. Individual pieces can sell for thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, while some handmade furniture pieces have been priced in the hundreds of thousands.
Unlike most luxury brands, Chrome Hearts has largely avoided conventional advertising and mass-market online retail. The company manufactures much of its merchandise in Los Angeles and operates an international network of exclusive boutiques, cultivating an atmosphere of scarcity that has only increased demand.
How Rich Is Richard Stark?
In 2019, Women’s Wear Daily reported that the Stark family had sold a 10% stake in Chrome Hearts to a private equity investor for $150 million. That transaction implied a valuation of approximately $1.5 billion for the entire company.
The deal was particularly significant because the Starks retained control of the business rather than selling it to a traditional luxury conglomerate.
There is also evidence of considerable annual revenue. In an April 2026 Hong Kong court proceeding involving Chrome Hearts and alleged trademark infringement, the court cited average annual revenue exceeding $350 million for the brand’s corporate plaintiffs between 2019 and 2023.
Richard and Laurie Lynn continue to control the business alongside their family. Their children, including Kristian Stark and Jesse Jo Stark, have become involved in its design and creative direction.
The Stark Family Already Owns A Fortune In Malibu Real Estate
The newly reported $93.5 million mansion purchase isn’t the Stark family’s first major Malibu real estate acquisition.
In May 2017, Richard and Laurie Lynn paid $38.5 million for a spectacular 2.8-acre compound in Malibu’s exclusive Paradise Cove area. The property contained multiple residences and offered direct access to one of Southern California’s most desirable stretches of coastline.
The couple also purchased a separate Malibu home for $7.25 million in November 2017. They have owned several other residences around Malibu over the years, including a property in Malibu Colony that they sold to Jonah Hill for $9 million in 2021.
More recently, the family’s real estate interests expanded beyond private residences.
In November 2025, Chrome Hearts purchased the Surfrider Hotel in Malibu for $37.5 million. The 20-room boutique hotel sits along Pacific Coast Highway, overlooking Surfrider Beach and the Malibu Pier.
That transaction worked out to an incredible $1.875 million per hotel room, placing it among the most expensive hotel acquisitions on a per-room basis in Southern California.
Laurie Lynn Stark discussed plans to incorporate the Chrome Hearts aesthetic into the hotel while preserving its connection to Malibu’s surfing culture.
The newly reported $93.5 million mansion purchase adds another enormous property to the family’s Malibu portfolio, bringing the combined purchase prices of the Paradise Cove estate, Surfrider Hotel, and Sweetwater Mesa mansion to $169.5 million.
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