Elon Musk is foreclosing on Gene Wilder's Bel Air home that he sold to the 'Willy Wonka' actor's nephew

Elon Musk is foreclosing on Gene Wilder's Bel Air home that he sold to the 'Willy Wonka' actor's nephew

Musk owned the home but sold it in 2020 to Jordan Walker-Pearlman, Wilder’s nephew, for a reduced price

By

Ben Kesslen

Elon Musk is foreclosing on the Bel Air home once owned by actor Gene Wilder after selling it to the actor’s nephew at a discount and loaning him money to make the purchase.

Musk owned the home but sold it in 2020 to Jordan Walker-Pearlman, Wilder’s nephew, and his wife Elizabeth Hunter, the Wall Street Journal reported.

He originally asked for $9.5 million, but when the couple said he couldn’t afford it, he reduced the price to $7 million. Musk also offered them a $6.7 million loan.

But Walker-Pearlman and Hunter fell behind on their payments and could no longer afford the home, according to the Journal. Musk issued the notice of default in July.

The couple has since listed the house for $12.95 million.

Walker-Pearlman, who lived in the house as a child, told the Journal that Musk’s decision to foreclose is not “adversarial or mean.”

He said the actors’ and writers’ strikes last year made it difficult for him and his wife, a screenwriter, to make payments.

“There’s no tragedy here,” he said. “Elon gave us a magical opportunity. I have no complaints.”

“She did not want to continue morally owing Elon anymore,” he said of his wife, adding that the property was under her name. “We already owe him such a spiritual debt.”

The 2,800-square-foot house is located above the Bel-Air Country Club. Wilder sold it for $2.725 million in 2007. He died in 2016.