If you've been paying attention to Kanye West in the last few months, you may have noticed he is somewhat desperate to get back together with Kim Kardashian. On more than one occasion he has publicly begged Kim to reunite. I don't blame the guy. I can't imagine how painful it must be to be separated from your wife and four children.
On the other hand, Kanye hasn't exactly spent the last few months alone living like a monk solemnly repenting for his mistakes. According to a number of reports, in recent months Kanye has been comforted by a busty 22-year-0ld model named Vinetria. The two have apparently been living together in his recently-acquired $60 million Malibu mansion.
Kim has reportedly found Kanye's pleas to get back together "embarrassing," or at the very least disingenuous, since he was already living with someone else. You can't have it both ways Kanye. Either you're desperate to get back with your ex, OR you're moving on to a hot 22-year-old busty model.
And if Kim thought Kanye's public begging was "embarrassing," I can only imagine how she feels about Kanye's latest salvo.
As first noted by TMZ, Kanye West just paid $4.5 million to acquire a modest and somewhat dated ranch-style home in Hidden Hills, California. He actually paid $420,000 over-asking.
(Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Why would someone who owns a $60 million oceanfront Malibu mansion pay $421,000 over-asking for a 70-year-old modest home 25 minutes deep into suburbia?
Was he attracted to the open concept kitchen that was renovated in 2005?
Was it the two-car garage?
Was it the three-stall horse barn?
Sure, all those are nice features, but this property has another x-factor: It's right across the street from Kim's house. Like 20 feet away.
Below is an aerial view of the neighborhood filmed after a fire back in 2018. Kim's house is the enormous mansion surrounded by burn scars. Whenever you see the large black sports court in back of her property, look just over to the right and you'll see Kanye's new house:
How The Kimye Compound Came To Be
Believe it or not, we need to start with Elvis Presley.
Elvis died 1977. At the time of his death, Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie was nine. Lisa Marie was the sole-beneficiary of an estate valued at $5 million, which is the equivalent of $14 million in today's money. Unfortunately, Lisa's inheritance dwindled to just $1 million after all expenses, taxes and fees were paid by the estate.
After his death, Lisa Marie's mother Priscilla took control of Elvis' estate and image. Thanks to a handful of shrewd licensing deals and sound financial management, Priscilla grew the fortune to $100 million by February 1993. That's when Lisa turned 25, the age she received her inheritance.
In December of 1993, Lisa used $2.6 million of her newly-inherited wealth to acquire a 3-acre estate in Hidden Hills. She sold the property to a doctor in November 2010 for $5 million. The doctor proceeded to raze the entire lot and built a 15,000 square-foot French country-style estate.
In the summer of 2014 Kim and Kanye were walking around this gated community while visiting a family member who was a resident. At the time the two were living in a Bel Air mansion that she had purchased a year earlier for $9 million.
According to an interview in Architectural Digest, Kim "thought the house was perfection. Kanye was less enthusiastic." Differences of opinion aside, the couple purchased the estate for $20 million.
Kim and Kanye spent the next two years and tens of millions of dollars performing endless renovations and upgrades. Unfortunately, in 2016 Kanye decided he hated what they had built. So they started again. From scratch. In 2019 they expanded their estate with two separate transactions for neighboring properties to create a conjoined 7.5-acre behemoth.
When you add it all up, Kim and Kanye spent around $28 million on real estate transactions alone for the compound and likely another $20 million minimum on renovations for a total of just under $50 million.
In October 2021, Kim bought Kanye out of his 50% share in the home for $20 million. She chipped in another $3 million for the interior's furnishings and art.
And for what it's worth, Kanye buying the house next door shouldn't be a major shock. During a Thanksgiving fundraiser last month, Kanye told the crowd that if couldn't get the family back together living in the same house, he was planning to "buy the home right next door." Promises made. Promises kept.
But for Kim, now it might be time to invest in some major privacy shrubs for the back of the property…
