WhatsApp’s Jan Koum drops $87 million on the house next door in Malibu

WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum just grabbed another slice of Malibu shoreline, paying $87 million for an oceanfront home right next to his other one, The Times has confirmed.

The billionaire has been on a Southern California spending spree for the last three years. In 2019, he paid $100 million for the Malibu home of longtime NBCUniversal executive Ron Meyer. A year later he ventured inland, shelling out $125 million for the Beverly Hills mansion of Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg.

The $87-million sale, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is by far the priciest home sale in L.A. County so far this year. The property originally was put on the market last summer for $125 million, The Times previously reported.

Diana Jenkins, ex-wife of British banker Roger Jenkins, was the seller. Before her, the coastal retreat was owned by media mogul Barry Diller and country music star Kenny Rogers.

Between the two neighboring estates overlooking Malibu’s Paradise Cove, Koum now has six acres of land. His new place accounts for three of those acres and features a single-story main house, a three-story guesthouse and a guardhouse.

Whitewashed beams hang over herringbone floors in the sunny common spaces. Almost every single room takes in views of the ocean, including the indoor-outdoor living room, dining area and sky-lit bathroom. There’s also a recording studio, a wine cellar, an office and a patio with an aquarium wall off the guesthouse.

Lawns and patios surround a swimming pool and basketball court outside, where a funicular descends to 256 feet of beach frontage. On the sand, a wood cabana adds a huge deck and bar for entertaining.

Koum founded the mobile messaging system WhatsApp in 2009 and sold the company to Facebook Inc. five years later for $19.3 billion. Forbes puts his net worth at $10 billion.

Chris Cortazzo of Compass held the listing. Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency represented Koum.