Egypt’s richest man Nassef Sawiris only stays in $24M mansion to help the poor

Nassef Sawiris owns lavish houses in London, New York City, and Egypt, but never in Los Angeles. Sawiris was the mystеrious buyer who spent $24 mιllιon for a startlingly elegant and picturesque property in Trousdale Estates, one of Beverly Hills’ most expensive neighborhoods, a few months ago.

Sawiris, the youngest of Onsi Sawiris’ three sons, was born and reared in Cairo. His father grew the Orascom Group into a global conglomerate with interests in building, tourism, hospitality, tech, and media. Nassef has emerged as a savvy businessman with stakes in some of the world’s most valuable corporations and sports teams. Forbes reports that Sawiris, Adidas’ top stakeholder, is worth $7 bιllιon, more than his two older brothers.

However, Sawiris may be most recognized in America for Kanye West. West captioned a Sawiris shot on his popular Instagram account “Sooooo much positivity” in September.

The late 1960s modernist Sawiris mansion in Beverly Hills lies on one of Trousdale’s most prized ridges. By the mid-2000s, the single-story house had undergone a series of catastrophic restorations that left it looking like a strangely Greco-Roman take on modernism, complete with dozens of white columns.

In 2009, veteran real estate developer Edward “Eddie” Israel bought the property. Israel, a Los Angeles apartment and condo landlord, bought the rundown house for $5.1 mιllιon and hired architect William Hefner to renovate it. After several years, the home was leveled and extended.

Judge the residential results for yourself, but the estate is now more fashionable than ever with exceptionally high ceilings, walls of glass, and blonde hardwood flooring. The now-out-of-print book “Trousdale Estates: Midcentury to Modern in Beverly Hills” by Steven Price featured it on the cover in 2017.