Famed Australian media and gambling tycoon James Packer has splurged a whopping $174million on seven bedroom, three-storey mansion in Los Angeles.
Located in ritzy Bel Air and designed in the style of a French chateau, the sprawling property features 14 bathrooms and has parking for 20 cars.
Once the home of fashion models Gigi and Bella Hadid, the amazing spread is built in the foothills overlooking LA, and boasts sweeping views of the city skyline.
Packer, 57, bought the home, which is dubbed Le Belvedere, two weeks ago reported news.com.au on Wednesday.
The publication says that the home has been renovated since original owner Mohamed Hadid completed construction on the 9,000 square metre pad in 2007.
Known as a high-flying real estate developer, Hadid put the luxurious home under the hammer in 2010 for $50 million, only to lease it back from the buyers.
Famed Australian media and gambling tycoon James Packer (pictured) has splurged a whopping $174million on seven bedroom, three-storey mansion in Los Angeles
Packer, 57, bought the home, which is dubbed Le Belvedere (pictured), two weeks ago
The owners put it back on the market in 2010 for USD $85million (AUD $134million).
While Hadid owned the home, features included a Turkish bath and a 60-seat home cinema decorated in ‘Baroque’ style and boasting ‘opera seating’
There’s also an enormous wine cellar which features its own dining space.
Surrounded by exquisitely maintained gardens, the house also features an over-sized kitchen, and a 40 metre long ‘gallery’.
Hadid also installed a ballroom big enough to host 200 people and a dining room that can serve 22 guests.
According to the report, the renovations are modelled after French design and styling.
Packer’s new neighbours include Elon Musk, Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and Jay Z.
James already has an extensive property portfolio, including another $132million mega mansion in Bel air, a mansion in Beverly Hills, a $60million apartment in Sydney’s Barangaroo and homes in Argentina, Israel and a $50million compound in Cabo San Lucas.
Located in ritzy Bel Air and designed in the style of a French chateau, the sprawling property features 14 bathrooms and has parking for 20 cars. Pictured: Inside the mansion as it was when original owner Mohamed Hadid owned the lavish property
Reports indicate that the home has been renovated Hadid completed construction on the 9,000 square metre pad in 2007. Pictured: The original home cinema
Packer also has a $20million holiday home in Aspen, Colorado, where he is a frequent visitor.
It comes after Packer was spotted rubbing shoulders President Donald Trump and Elon Musk at a star-studded event in Florida in January.
The billionaire had his new girlfriend Renee Elizabeth Blythewood by his side at the dinner held at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s Palm Beach Home.
He was joined by long-time friend and business partner Brett Ratner.
Packer made headlines earlier a few weeks earlier when he announced that his company with Brett Ratner, Ratpac, would be making a documentary on the life of Melania Trump.
Amazon will release the film which will be directed by Ratner, while the new First Lady will act as executive producer alongside Fernando Sulichin of New Element Media.
Filming began in December 2024 and Prime Video will share more details on the project as the production progresses throughout the year.
The documentary is expected to hit the silver screen worldwide in the second half of 2025.
Meanwhile, Packer appears to have a new lease on life after going public with his new girlfriend Renée Blythewood at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
It was once the home of supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid (pictured)
Renée, who shares son Levi, 16, with a former partner, carved out a successful modelling career for herself at the young age of 10.
He also revealed he lives part of the year on the yacht, named IJE after the initials of his children, when he fled Sydney after inquiries into the operations of Crown casinos in Melbourne and Perth.
Packer told the Daily Telegraph in July he has houses in America, Mexico, Argentina and Israel – along with an apartment in Crown Sydney – and travels between them.
‘I do live a peripatetic life, for better or worse,’ he said.
‘The truth is, my dad’s (media mogul Kerry Packer) shadow became too big for me to live under in Australia.’
Packer has spent plenty of time in Hollywood, and late last year, in a wide-ranging interview with Channel Seven’s Liam Bartlett, opened up about the strong role Scientology previously had in his life and his one-time close friendship with Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise.
The businessman, who has been diagnosed as bipolar, said he spent much of 2002 in a manic stage.
It was that this time he became a Scientologist.
James already has an extensive property portfolio, including another $132million mega mansion in Bel Air (pictured)
The high profile mogul’s palatial spread at the estate is pictured
He left Scientology several years later following the death of his father Kerry in December 2005.
‘Scientology helped me for a period of time. Scientology helped me deal with my mental health issues,’ Packer said.
‘I am no longer a member of the Church of Scientololgy. I was good friends with Tom Cruise. It’s Tom’s choice, not mine that we are not friends anymore.’
He wouldn’t delve into why the pair weren’t friends anymore after Cruise attended Packer’s wedding to former wife Erica while he attended the Hollywood star’s nuptials to actress Katie Holmes.
‘I’ll never say a bad word about him. He was a wonderful friend to me. He is an amazing person,’ Packer said.
However, it was another Hollywood A-lister who offered Packer an extraordinary helping hand during his mental health battles.
Actor Warren Beatty opened his guest house for the Australian to live in for ‘two to three years’ at Packer’s lowest point.
Talking to Bartlett aboard his $300million superyacht moored off Tahiti, Packer revealed how Beatty had been a very generous host to him during his darkest days.
Packer also owns a luxurious $20million holiday home in Aspen (pictured), which he shares with his ex-wife, Erica
The lavish property offers seven spacious bedrooms and seven bathrooms, enough to accommodate his kids, family and guests
The pair remain friends to this day.
‘Well, he’s a wonderful man Warren Beatty, and he is a wonderful friend to me,’ Mr Packer said.
‘I saw him recently. I lived in his guest house for about two to three years and he really was wonderful to me and when I was unwel, he tried to help me.
‘I’ve been very lucky. I’ve come across some amazing people in my life … I’ve crossed paths with… a series of amazing people. Warren’s one of them.’
Packer said his wildly swinging moods and sometimes being on the wrong the medication led to the breakdown of his two marriages, first with Jodhi Meares and then Erica Packer, who he had three children with.
‘I think my downs coincided with either being on the wrong medication or having too much stress at work and that’s code for too much debt and problems with the business,’ he said.
He told Bartlett that being on the wrong drug ‘can be worse than the mental health issues they are meant to combat.
However, Packer admitted he did not know what his current medications were because he has a private nurse prepare it for him.
Another addition to James’ lucrative property portfolio is his $60million apartment in Sydney’s Barangaroo (pictured)
‘I am on a bunch of things and someone does it for me,’ he said.
Packer also urged people battling mental health issues to ‘reach out if it becomes too overwhelming’.
‘I’ve been very lucky when it’s been too overwhelming,’ Mr Packer said.
‘For me it was hugely important that I had a couple of people who I could turn to in the darkest stages of my life, who were there for me they were hugely important.’
Packer also urged people battling mental health issues to ‘reach out if it becomes too overwhelming’.
‘I’ve been very lucky when it’s been too overwhelming,’ Mr Packer said.
‘For me it was hugely important that I had a couple of people who I could turn to in the darkest stages of my life, who were there for me they were hugely important.’
For free mental health support call Lifeline Australia: 13 11 14
For support with anxiety and depression call Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
