Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, along with Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, have all dropped millions to purchase their neighbors’ properties in recent months, sparking conversation over how their buying power will impact the neighborhood. But what exactly are they buying? The Zillow Blog, along with The Agency’s Kofi Natei Nartey, set to find out.

Kofi Natei Nartey
Along with keeping a big development from coming near, ensuring a desired quality of life, and making room for friends and family—all good reasons why tech titans are expanding their empires on land—the primary reason may be as simple as privacy. As Kofi, Director of the Sports and Entertainment Division, points out in the article, “It’s a way to control who is your neighbor. In the Hills, there are homes with amazing views, but with that comes limited privacy.”
It’s interesting to note that this isn’t an entirely new breed of celebrity. In fact, Hollywood A-list stars (Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon) have been flexing their real estate muscles for years. High-profile tech execs don’t share quite the same stardom as their on-camera counterparts, but both parties still value keeping their public life separate from their private life.
“In the social era of today, those like Zuckerberg tend to be a mix of Hollywood star and tech titan, whereas a lot of execs in the past didn’t get a lot of fanfare,” adds Kofi. That helps explain the recent home-buying spree among the entrepreneurial community, but we are all still left to wonder: How do you borrow a cup of sugar from your neighbor if your neighbor is you?
Read the full article on Zillow’s Blog here.