Byron Allen has a lot to celebrate. According to Essence, the media titan has made history as the only Black person to buy a $100 million home. The purchase is the highest by a Black homebuyer.
Allen’s new abode is a modest 11,000-square-foot mansion situated on 3.5 square acres in Malibu, California, The Wall Street Journal reports. In addition to the main four-bedroom house, the property also includes two guesthouses.
As for the amenities? This mansion, which was previously owned by billionaire Tammy Hughes Gustavson, doesn’t have a shortage.
The home has a screen room, as well as a “winding path” that allows the owner to drive a small vehicle down to a nearby beach, WSJ reports. According to Sportskeeda, the mansion also has a gym, home theater, tennis court and yoga studio. There is even a breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean.
Allen’s Malibu mansion is the latest addition to his roster of homes, including one in Maui, Aspen, New York, and Beverly Hills, Los Angeles magazine reports.
Back in March, he acquired two side-by-side homes in the latter and bought both of them from former eBay president Jeff Skoll. Those buys came almost 10 years after Allen bought a Beverly Hills property for $17 million in 2012.
The 61-year-old got his start as a comedian, Essence reports. After years in the game, he switched careers and founded Entertainment Studios/Allen Media Group — one of the largest privately held media companies in the country.
The company has ownership of The Weather Channel, among others, in its portfolio. Entertainment Studios/Allen Media Group also owns 12 cable networks and around 70 TV shows.
But the last few years haven’t been without hardships for Allen.
According to Los Angeles magazine, he’s filed several multibillion-dollar racial discrimination lawsuits. And in 2015, he sued Comcast for not carrying networks and stations that he owned. The case made it to the Supreme Court but was later settled.
As Blavity previously reported, Allen recently went after McDonald’s, alleging the fast food giant racially stereotyped his company.
He claimed that the company has a “tiered advertising structure that differentiates on the basis of race,” according to the Allen Media Group, LA mag reports. As a result, the company has allegedly prevented Entertainment Studios/Allen Media Group from accessing lucrative advertising opportunities.
