The most expensive mansion in Silicon Valley has been sold: how much it sold for and who bought it

In the surroundings of Silicon Valley, the luxury market no longer surprises with astronomical figures, but the latest transaction in Hillsborough managed to stand out. On August 6, the sale of 3000 Ralston Avenue was closed for 70 million dollars. This figure makes it the largest residential transaction in Northern California so far in 2026 and sets a historical record for that locality.

The property, known as Villa de Verano, occupies more than 12 acres, about 4.9 hectares, and is inspired by the villas of Lake Como. On that land stands a main residence of 12,404 square feet, approximately 1,152 square meters, with six bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, and ten half-baths. It also includes a guest house of 4,612 square feet, nearly 428 square meters.

Outside the buildings, the complex multiplies options so that one hardly ever has to leave. It includes a sunken tennis court, a private nine-hole golf course, an 18-hole putting green, and spaces for pickleball, volleyball, bocce, and horseshoes. There is also an outdoor amphitheater with a capacity for 150 people and an area designed for events.The display is completed with a reflection pond, another with koi fish, fountains inspired by those at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, and a saltwater aquarium of nearly 8,000 liters. The ensemble explains why the house is only part of a compound conceived as a nearly self-sufficient private world.

From 88 million to the final closing

The previous owners spent years developing the estate before putting it up for sale last fall for 88 million dollars. The price later dropped to 78.8 million, and the transaction was finally closed at 70 million. The size of the land was one of the main selling points, and according to market agents, privacy gained importance among major buyers, including several linked to artificial intelligence.

The trail of the purchase does not go through a public statement from the buyer but through a chain of companies. Daikon no Hana Capital LLC, created on July 9, is listed as the purchaser and has attorney Steven D. Anderson as its manager. The representative of the company in the transaction was Jia Xu, who had previously participated in the purchase of a house in Los Altos Hills for 12 million dollars linked to Yuhuai “Tony” Wu.

The San Francisco Standard added another coincidence: Anderson transferred that previous home to a family trust approximately one week before the closing of 3000 Ralston Avenue. All signs point to Wu, although there is no official confirmation from him.

The name that this trail leads to is not foreign to the current race for artificial intelligence. Yuhuai “Tony” Wu was born in Jiande, Hangzhou, in 1995 and was one of the co-founders of xAI in 2023. There, he led pre-training and post-training work for Grok and its application to expert reasoning tasks.

A career linked to artificial intelligence

Previously, he had worked as a researcher at Google, done research internships at OpenAI and DeepMind, and spent time at Stanford as a postdoctoral researcher. He left xAI in February 2026 and currently serves on the scientific advisory board of Integrated Biosciences.

His background helps to understand why this transaction generated so much attention, even without a direct confirmation. In a market where large tech fortunes increasingly seek privacy and scale, the purchase of an estate of nearly five acres with all amenities within the property becomes a symbol of how today's artificial intelligence elites operate.

The transaction makes it clear that Hillsborough remains one of the few places in Northern California where it is still possible to gather land, privacy, and a level of amenities that in other places would require constantly leaving home. And as long as there is no denial or official confirmation, the name of Tony Wu will remain associated with the largest residential sale of the year in that area.