Notch Buys Beverly Hills Mansion

[Udo]

There are certain aspects about Notch's rise to fame and fortune that make his story more inspiring to me than practically any other celebrity. He got wealthy doing what he loved, he never bullied anyone or got into any kind of real drama, he didn't need to build an oppressive empire, his product was something that enabled and inspired people in itself, and when it wasn't fun anymore he just quit and is (from the looks of it) currently enjoying life.

It's immensely comforting to know that this is possible, unlikely and unconventional as it may be. I'd much like to see more Notches out there making it big, as compared to the flood of Steve Jobs-wannabe assholes who are on a perpetual mission of conquest and destruction.

[boracay]

I would imagine the biggest opportunity of "unexpected wealth" is that you have the benefit of knowing better. As in that you don't have to value the same things as society at large and can go on and do things that really matter. Seems like he's wasting that opportunity.

[gonvaled]

It seems your definition of "it is possible" seems to be "he got immensely rich". Being rich is a comparison: you are only rich compared to poorer people. So, by definition, only very few people can "make it": you only value the mansion that he bought if nobody else has it. Or, seen from another perspective: 99.9% of human beings are incredibly rich (compared to 99% of the middle ages inhabitants), but who cares? We all feel poor.

So, if we all "make it" and buy 70$ million dollars homes with bay view (an impossibility in itself), we will nevertheless all be poor.

Sorry to be negative, but we can not make it.

[georgespencer]

Good for him. I also enjoy the fact that he's bought something which I can imagine would be relatively straightforward to recreate in the game which got him there.

People saying it's a "tasteless piece of real estate" seem misguided. It's a lovely building, architecturally. I don't think the furnishings do it justice (it's all too plush and nouveau) but it's a really lovely design.

[Kiro]

Already done: http://www.geek.com/games/notchs-70-million-beverly-hills-ma...

[Fuxy]

To be honest it's probably not something I would do. I mean it's certainly a lovely house but it is 70 million worthy?

A slightly more modest but spacious house on the outskirts of the city is more my style.

I mean imagine how many other cool things you could do with that money instead of having sit in some house.

Well regardless it's his money and he can do whatever he wants with it although i wish he would invest it in something more interesting.

[pgl]

This is almost like an article from The Onion: Rich Person Buys Big House In Expensive Neighbourhood.

[mike-cardwell]

I know this is primarily a forum for American capitalists, but am I the only person here who would feel utterly ashamed of myself for spending 70 million dollars on a house? I'd feel outright embarrassed to admit it to any of my friends. The good you could do with that sort of money... And then to just blow it on a house.

[krig]

I think it is difficult to imagine what it would actually be like to have that kind of money, the Minecraft success is such a ridiculous outlier. He pretty much went from being an average swede with little savings to having more money than everyone. At this point, he can give away millions of dollars every month and still end up having more money than he started with.

In theory I agree with you in your sentiment, but I have a hard time truly imagining my life with that kind of money.

[johnyzee]

Bah, that kind of money should be spent. Would you rather he sit on it or bought stocks and T-bills? Before you say he should spend it charitably, I honestly don't think it is easy to donate tens, or hundreds, of millions of dollars in a way where you could be sure it would be put to proper use, unless, or even if, you made it your full time job.

Besides, I'm fairly sure Notch will put part of those billions towards worthy causes.

[easytiger]

Would you feel ashamed of having $70million worth of stock in a company? Because it is the same thing, except you can't put a sofa in them.

[boracay]

I think it's pretty much a tragedy. But it's not necessarily a bad decision from an economic perspective.

[marktangotango]

>>Beverly Hills recorded the highest-priced sale in its history Thursday at $70 million for an 8-bedroom, 15-bath home in Trousdale Estates.

I've often wondered what Notch intends to do with his Minecraft millions. Looks like he's "loading up the truck and movin to Beverly, Hills that is". Sounds like a nice house, kind of an odd bedroom to bath ratio though.

[67726e]

> kind of an odd bedroom to bath ratio though.

The bedroom/bathroom metric is probably a sub-optimal frame of reference for size when you have a mansion with a dedicated candy room, and thus lots of large non-bedroom rooms. The room/bathroom metric is probably a little closer less skewed. Opulent none the less.

[waterlesscloud]

From what I've seen about it online, it's designed from the ground up to be optimized for entertaining. In other words, a party house. In that case having plenty of bathrooms makes more sense!

[atgreen]

> odd bedroom to bath ratio though

This is a house for entertaining. The ratio makes sense.

[johnyzee]

I freaking love everything about the story of Notch and Minecraft, including this. I want to live in a world where a geek can sit in his bedroom and create some cool shit, that enables him buy a $70 million mansion in Beverly Hills.

[rertrree]

Don't correlate creating games with money. He was really lucky; there were other very similar games on the scene at that time, his just happened to stick.

The observation should really be: creating anything interesting gives you potential to be wealthy.

[nly]

> John Aaroe said, “I have been in this market for over 30 years and have never seen the level of growth that the luxury market has experienced in the past year, with no end in sight.”

Hyperbole, or truth? and why?

[jahnu]

The top 0.1% are doing really really well

http://equitablegrowth.org/research/exploding-wealth-inequal...

[dagw]

Despite all the focus on the losers in the rising inequality, it is equally true that is easier (in very relative terms) than ever before for basically anybody in the world to amass huge wealth. Basically you're getting a lot of new rich people who don't have all the rich people toys in their family already and they need to stock up quickly.

[waterlesscloud]

Always assume a real estate agent in engaging in hyperbole, but...

In the last year or so I've seen a lot of houses in Hollywood Hills / Beverly Hills purchased, demolished, and rebuilt from the ground up. Needless to say, that's quite an expensive endeavor. Compared to a few years ago when houses in the same area sat on the market forever, it seems like things have taken a turn for the better.

[wtf_is_up]

No surprise that the mansion looks like it was made out of blocks.

Also amusing to see a nerd outbid entertainment megacouple JayZ/Beyonce.

[gmays]

What cracked me up is if you watch the video advertising the home on the website (http://1181hillcrest.com/video.html) the guy's contact email address is a Gmail address.

If you're offering a home at $85,000,000 (the original list price) and you even create a website for the property, at least spring the extra $12/year for your own domain name.

[ema]

Except it's not just $12/year for the domain name but also all the hassle of having to administrate it or dealing with someone who administrates it for you. Gmail does have a big convenience bonus.

[easytiger]

> When the home was purchased, the Minecraft creator also purchased all of the furniture for $6 million.

I know good furniture is expensive, but seems like a lot!

[johnyzee]

I think, when you have the kind of money that Notch now does, your time becomes by far your most precious asset. Saving the hassle of interior decoration probably makes it well worth it for him.

Tangentially, it is probably a lot of pressure to be that rich. Must be easy to feel that you are not making the most of it, when at any given moment you could be doing whatever ridiculously expensive thing you can imagine, rather than sitting in a dentist's chair or being stuck in traffic somewhere.

[thrillgore]

He totally just should have gotten some wood and built some out of stairs and signs

[nullsocket]

I'm assuming his accountant told him to make a large investment/purchase for tax reasons, homes are an easy write-off when your wealthy.

[a3n]

Those chairs in the first picture (city on left, chairs on right) look like pumpkins.

[crispweed]

Façade seems kind of blocky. ;)

[CmonDev]

It was an easy sell once they figured out that he is afraid of creepers: https://www.google.com/search?q=creeper+suit

[geophile]

Wasn't this the house owned by the douchebag director in Mulholland Drive?

[waterlesscloud]

No, but it does very vaguely remind me of the house in THE LIMEY.

http://www.estately.com/listings/info/2210-astral-drive

[sdfjkl]

Considering it's brand new, no.

[unixpunx]

Glad to see he made it out of Sweden in time and that this time his millions didn't go for a wife that divorced him just for the money.

[yuvadam]

Here's what this tasteless piece of real estate looks like: http://vimeo.com/102897742

[staffordrj]

I thought that candy bar looked familiar https://twitter.com/notch/status/545729155359207426