Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Pays $110 Million For Spelling Manor

Back in 2001, the venture capital backers of the nascent, pre-IPO search engine, Google, gave an important task to the company's young co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin: hire a CEO.

Larry and Sergey loathed the idea, but they complied. Over the next year, they interviewed and rejected a parade of high-powered candidates. Then one day, Eric Schmidt walked in.

Eric had the kind of corporate résumé that normally would have sent the Google boys running in the opposite direction. He'd been CTO at Sun Microsystems, CEO of Novell, and held senior roles at a handful of traditional tech companies. But what caught Larry and Sergey off guard was that Schmidt was also one of them: a computer science PhD with a part-time teaching gig at Stanford, their alma mater. He spoke their language, shared their values, and could code. It was a match made in Mountain View. On August 6, 2001, Eric Schmidt officially became CEO of Google.

He held that role for the next decade, guiding the company through its IPO and into global dominance. He stepped down as CEO in 2011 but remained chairman until 2017 and a board member until 2019.

As you might expect, over the years, Schmidt was handsomely rewarded. He still owns roughly 1% of Google's parent company, Alphabet, a stake worth around $23 billion. And that's after he's sold more than $7 billion worth of equity over the years. When you combine his private investments and ventures, his net worth currently sits at $36 billion.

In the years since stepping away from Google, Schmidt has quietly transformed into one of the world's most extravagant real estate collectors. He owns dozens of residential properties, located up and down California, in Miami, Manhattan, London, Washington, D.C., and Nantucket. He's bought historic mansions, private compounds, entire undeveloped hillsides, and lavish beach estates. And now, he's acquired one of the most iconic homes in Los Angeles: The Spelling Manor.

Aaron Spelling's former luxury home in Beverly Hills, LA. via Alamy

A Brief History of the Spelling Manor

The Manor—often referred to as "The Spelling Manor" in real estate circles—was commissioned in the late 1980s by television producer Aaron Spelling and his wife, Candy Spelling.

At the time, Aaron was riding high on a streak of monster hits like "Dynasty," "Beverly Hills, 90210," and "Melrose Place," and he wanted a house that would reflect his status as Hollywood royalty. The Spellings tore down Bing Crosby's former mansion on the site and built from scratch what would become one of the largest and most opulent private residences in Los Angeles. It's where they wanted to raise their two children, Randy and Tori Spelling.

Completed in 1991, The Manor spans an astonishing 56,500 square feet, making it slightly larger than the White House. It sits on just under five acres of prime land in Holmby Hills, one of L.A.'s most exclusive neighborhoods. Designed in the style of a French château, the home includes 14 bedrooms, 27 bathrooms, a bowling alley, a beauty salon, a wine cellar, a library, a screening room, tanning and massage rooms, and even a humidity-controlled silver storage room. There's also a motor court with space for 100 vehicles, a gift-wrapping room, and a grand double staircase famously inspired by "Gone with the Wind."

Here's a video tour from three years ago:

Sales History

Despite the sheer scale of the property, the Spellings insisted it was a cozy family home. Candy lived there for nearly two decades before finally deciding to sell after Aaron's death in 2006.

In 2011, after several years on and off the market, Candy Spelling sold The Manor to Petra Ecclestone, the 22-year-old daughter of Formula One billionaire Bernie Ecclestone. The purchase price was $85 million, all cash. At the time, it was one of the largest residential real estate deals in U.S. history.

Petra quickly set about transforming the already lavish property into something even more extravagant. She brought in a team of over 500 workers for a massive, multi-year renovation, gutting much of the interior and rebuilding it in a more modern, European-inspired aesthetic. Candy's floral drapes and doll museum were replaced with marble floors, mirrored walls, and custom-made chandeliers. Petra reportedly used the home infrequently, as she was based primarily in London, and began quietly shopping it off-market by the mid-2010s.

In 2019, Petra sold The Manor for $120 million to an unnamed buyer, who is believed to be Saudi-based, in what was then the most expensive home sale ever recorded in Los Angeles County. The deal generated a flurry of headlines but remained cloaked in mystery, with the buyer concealed behind a shell company called 594 Mapleton LLC.

That brings us to 2025. After years of legal headaches—including a phony deed scam that temporarily clouded the home's title—the property quietly returned to market with a $137.5 million asking price. And this week, after multiple price cuts and negotiations, Eric and Wendy Schmidt purchased The Manor for $110 million.