For more than 30 years, Johnny Carson was the undisputed king of late-night television. As host of “The Tonight Show,” he shaped American pop culture, launched the careers of countless comedians, and became one of the most recognizable figures in entertainment. In 1984, at the height of his fame, Carson sought a retreat away from the spotlight, a place where he could enjoy privacy, entertain close friends, and look out at the Pacific Ocean in near seclusion. What he found was a striking modernist compound in Malibu’s exclusive Point Dume neighborhood, a property that quickly became as closely associated with Carson as his television stage in Burbank.
Carson paid $9.5 million for the estate in the mid-1980s, a staggering price for the era and one that underscored both his financial success and his desire to live large away from the cameras. Perched on a bluff with more than 300 feet of ocean frontage, the four-parcel compound centered around a triangular glass-and-wood residence designed by noted architect Ed Niles. With its dramatic lines, soaring ceilings, and uninterrupted ocean views, the home reflected Carson’s taste for clean modernism and understated luxury. For more than two decades, the estate served as his personal sanctuary until his death in 2005.
Nearly twenty years later, that same Malibu property has once again captured headlines — this time with a staggering $110 million price tag. Now owned by venture capitalist Riaz Valani and his wife Augusta Tigrett, a Hard Rock Café heiress, the estate has been redecorated and positioned as one of Southern California’s most spectacular trophy homes. Its new listing price represents more than a tenfold increase from what Carson originally paid, and more than double what Valani and Tigrett themselves spent just six years ago.
Carson’s Malibu Retreat
The estate’s centerpiece is the 7,100-square-foot triangular residence built in the early 1980s by architect Ed Niles. The three-story home is introduced by a soaring atrium filled with mature trees and topped by a 30-foot wood-and-glass ceiling. The main entertaining area features a sunken copper-and-glass fireplace, an ocean-view terrace, and a koi pond just outside. An elevated dining room with a marble bar sits beside an updated kitchen with a large island and butler’s pantry.
The upper floor is dedicated entirely to the primary suite, which includes dual offices, walk-in closets, and a private balcony overlooking the ocean. On the lower level, there is a screening room, wine cellar, and wet bar, along with direct access to another terrace with panoramic views of Little Dume Beach.
Luxurious Grounds
The compound spans more than four acres, divided by a public road. On the bluff side sit the main residence, gardens, a saltwater pool with waterfall grotto, spa, sauna, cold plunge, and motor court with space for up to 40 cars. Across the road is a full championship tennis court and a 2,700-square-foot pavilion — famously gifted to Carson by NBC — that holds guest suites, a fireside lounge, a full kitchen, and a sauna-equipped locker room. The estate also includes a guesthouse, greenhouse, fruit orchard, and aviary.
Here is a photo slideshow of the home:
A History of Big Price Tags
Carson lived at the Malibu compound until his death in 2005. His widow Alexis sold the four-parcel estate in 2007 to billionaire apparel mogul-turned-film producer Sidney Kimmel and his wife Caroline for $46 million, a record-setting deal for the time. A decade later, the Kimmels tried to sell the property for $81.5 million before ultimately transferring it off-market in 2019 to Valani and Tigrett in a $40 million all-cash deal.
And now it has just been listed again, this time for $110 million, positioning it among the most expensive celebrity residences ever offered in Malibu.
A Celebrity Legacy
Johnny Carson’s impact stretched far beyond late-night television and even his famous Malibu estate. During his lifetime, he quietly supported charities with annual gifts in the range of $1–2 million, always preferring to give privately without public recognition. But the true scope of his philanthropy wasn’t revealed until years after his death.
In 2010, five years after Carson passed away, an IRS filing quietly disclosed that his estate had transferred an astonishing $156 million to the John W. Carson Foundation — $35 million in cash and another $121 million in securities, plus ongoing royalty rights. The revelation stunned even the foundation’s own directors, who had assumed Carson’s charitable work would remain modest. Practically overnight, the nonprofit became one of the best-funded celebrity-backed charities in the country.
Today, the foundation continues to operate with assets of more than $100 million, distributing $15–16 million annually to causes ranging from education and healthcare to the arts, environmental conservation, and programs serving children and underserved communities in Los Angeles and Nebraska. It was a final act of generosity that perfectly reflected Carson’s personality: understated, unexpected, and delivered with flawless timing.
