Gupta is CEO of private investment bank IQ Holdings.
AB Wire
Houston, Texas-based businessman Pradeep Yohanne Gupta, CEO of private investment bank IQ Holdings, has bought ‘El Fureidis,’ the magnificent California estate where scenes of the movie “Scarface” were filmed, for $12.26 million.
The roughly 10-acre Montecito property went on the market in May of 2014 for $35 million, then had its price cut to $17.9 million. It was listed by Riskin Partners and Emily Kellenberger of Village Properties Realtors. It went into contract in September and closed in late October, according to Robert Riskin, one of the listing agents, reported The Wall Street Journal.
Riskin was quoted as saying the property was initially “overpriced,” and that the sales price “reflects its value.”
The seller was Russian-born financier Sergey Grishin, who purchased the home in 2008 for around $20 million.
The four-bedroom house is nearly 10,000 square feet. Designed in the early 1900s by architect Bertram Goodhue, it incorporates both Roman and Middle Eastern influences, such as a Byzantine-style “conversation room” with an 18-foot-high ceiling. In the dining room there is a barrel dome ceiling painted in 24-karat gold leaf. The grounds include Persian-style gardens and fountains. In the rear—where the wedding scene in “Scarface” was filmed—there are multiple patio levels and reflecting pools, reported the Journal.
Gupta said he has another home in Montecito, but was drawn to El Fureidis because of its history and architecture; its association with “Scarface” was merely “a data point,” he said.
“I think we got it at a fair value,” he added.
Gupta told the Journal he plans to use the home as his West Coast residence and is hoping to spend Christmas there.
Gupta is also the Managing Director and founder of IQ Life Sciences Corporation and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. He has B.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics and over 35 years of relevant experience as an inventor, engineer, entrepreneur, investor, and a philanthropist.
His wife, Linda Haynes Gupta, is also Managing Director and co-founder of IQ Life Sciences Corporation.