Huge Homes of America's Billionaires

Creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is a 26 year old billionaire that has just purchased a $7 million for a Palo Alto estate. This may seem like a fortune to us average individuals but compared to other billionaire home purchases, this is only a drop in the bucket. Some of the most wealthiest individuals in the world often spend up to hundreds of millions of dollars on expansive estates to match their extravagant lifestyles.
An example of this would be billionaire Ira Rennert’s purchase of a massive 43,031 square foot estate in New York with an estimated value of $200 million. This mansion includes 29 bedrooms and 39 bathrooms  which makes it one of the largest and most costly single family estates in the United States. Some of the features of this property are three pools, two courtyards, three dining areas, a covered basketball court, a modern gym, a bowling alley and private theatre that can accommodate over 160 guests.
Another billionaire who recently spent nine figures on a home is Yuri Milner who is a Russian investor. He recently purchased a 25,000 square foot mansion in Silicon Valley for over $100 million. This compound features both outdoor and indoor pools, a massive wine cellar, tennis courts, and a private ballroom.
It’s no surprise that many billionaire home buyers decide not to move into their newly acquired properties as soon as they’ve purchased them. Many used outside firms to to close the sale in order to keep the transaction as discrete as possible and take some time to renovate the property to meet their personal needs. Some even go as far as to demolish the current property and build an entirely new property on the previous home site. A recent example of this is when David Tepper purchased a $43.5 million property in New York just to get rid of it and rebuild a bigger and better estate.
One representative from a home remodeling project managment firm states that its not uncommon for individuals to purchase a multimillion dollar property just to knock it down and rebuild. His manages extreme remodels and new construction of multi-million dollar properties. This spokesperson also noted that many of his clients like to keep their real estate dealings private and commonly require his firm to sign non disclosure agreements to keep their projects under wraps. Many billionaires invest in high tech features for security such as bulletproof windows and modern air quality monitors to make sure that the air within their homes are of the purest forms.
Many of the most affluent homebuyers will invest millions of dollars in stonework and millwork. An example of this is found in one of  Donald Trump’s previous estates in which was recently sold to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev for $95 million. This elegant estate featured luxurious attributes such as diamond and gold fixtures as well as a 50 car garage.
Many compare the way billionaires purchase expensive real estate to how others would collect artwork. Larry Ellison (creator of Oracle) is a prime model of this analogy as he has recently spent hundreds of millions of dollars on more than 12 California mansions located in San Francisco and Malibu. He recently purchased a 240 acre compound in Rancho Mirage, California at a highly discounted price of $42.9 million.
As of now there are many high priced mansions on the market such as the Woolworth Mansion in Manhattan that has a $90 million asking price and the Tranquility Estate in Lake Tahoe listed for $75 million. One pending sale of a $48 million townhouse in Manhattan is expected to be the most costly residential property purchased in Manhattan since 2008. A spokesperson from a New York City real estate appraisal firm believes that when these extravagant, high-priced properties are introduced to the market it attracts the attention of other homeowners with similarly priced properties. He also stated that even the wealthy shy away from properties that are overpriced just as the average homebuyer would.