A growing number of ultrawealthy homebuyers, particularly technology and artificial intelligence executives in Silicon Valley, are deliberately hiding their identities when purchasing multimillion-dollar properties. They are routing transactions through limited liability companies, privacy trusts, and off-market deals known as whisper listings that never appear on the multiple listing service. The goal is not to secure the best possible price but to maintain anonymity and reduce their paper trails for security reasons, according to Ken DeLeon, founder of Palo Alto-based DeLeon Realty and one of Silicon Valley's top luxury brokers.
DeLeon, who was once ranked the nation's top real estate agent by the Wall Street Journal and RealTrends, told Fortune that this phenomenon, which he calls stealth wealth buying, began roughly three years ago when tech company market capitalizations started climbing again and more wealthy individuals flooded into Silicon Valley. «Increased wealth brought about greater security concerns and a stronger desire for privacy,» he said. «Over the last year, AI has driven some of the greatest wealth creation Silicon Valley has seen in 25 years, while also becoming an increasingly controversial topic. As a result, the desire for privacy has grown even stronger.»
The shift is visible in the region's soaring home prices. Atherton, a longtime Bay Area billionaire enclave, posted a median sale price of $8.33 million in 2025, a 5% gain from the previous year and a new high, according to PropertyShark. The town's top deal of the year was a $51.5 million sale of a 10,000-square-foot estate once owned by tech executive Stephen Luczo, and it traded entirely off-market, Palo Alto Online reported. That detail matters because for these buyers, exposure about their home transactions is more of a liability than a status symbol.
Security concerns have intensified following incidents such as an April attack in which a man threw a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's North Beach home in San Francisco, setting fire to an exterior gate. Authorities later alleged the 20-year-old suspect had traveled from Texas intending to kill Altman and had written about AI's purported risk to humanity. «Events like this have made people want to distance themselves further from public attention and increased their desire to remain anonymous,» DeLeon said.
The mechanics of stealth-wealth transactions look nothing like a standard sale. There is no Zillow notification, no open house, and often no sign in the yard. A listing might circulate among just three to five elite brokers in a given metro before quietly trading hands, DeLeon said. «Some sellers prioritize privacy over price and are willing to sell off market to avoid exposure,» he added. Outside Silicon Valley, off-market residential sales have surged at least 30% year-over-year in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens between 2024 and 2025, with Brooklyn alone logging roughly $5.4 billion in privately marketed sales, according to data reported by The Real Deal.
Anonymity extends well beyond the listing itself. For higher-end clients, DeLeon routinely recommends taking title through an LLC or a privacy trust, but with one key detail. «Sophisticated clients want to structure things carefully, making sure the manager of the LLC is not someone directly associated with them, such as their personal attorney,» he said. «The goal is to ensure that, even if someone digs into ownership records, they still cannot easily connect the property back to the principal owner.» The effort continues after closing. Utilities, deliveries, and even small packages such as toys ordered for children are often placed under the LLC or trust name rather than a personal name, DeLeon said, to help owners maintain a low profile.
The role of luxury agents has shifted as well. DeLeon said he is routinely asked to act as a buffer by meeting vendors, signing for inspections, and fielding questions that an owner would normally handle. Sometimes clients do not even want agents or sellers to know who they are. «In some cases, both sides of the transaction conceal their identities,» he said. «I try to serve as a buffer for my clients throughout the entire process, ensuring that vendors and other involved parties do not know the identity of the principal.»
That privacy comes at a financial cost. Off-market sales reach a smaller pool of buyers, which means less competition and often lower offers. «Most sellers understand that when they sell off the market, they are usually accepting a lower sales price,» DeLeon said. «In general, studies have shown that off-market listings across nearly all price points tend to sell for less than they would if they were fully exposed to the open market.» A February 2025 Zillow Research analysis of 2.7 million home sales found that homes sold off the MLS in 2023 and 2024 typically went for almost $5,000 less than those listed on the MLS, a median gap of 1.5%. For stealth-wealth buyers, that discount is simply the price of staying invisible.