Residents of California are deeply concerned about a pair of billionaire brothers from New Zealand who have acquired land after the catastrophic Los Angeles fires. Locals fear that these beachfront properties will be transformed into oversized luxury homes.
The January 2025 fire was the most destructive in Los Angeles history, obliterating over 6,800 homes and structures throughout Southern California.
In Malibu, about 720 homes were reduced to ashes, leaving residents of this once-glamorous celebrity retreat struggling to rebuild while competing with aggressive developers.
Nick and Mat Mowbray, known for their success in the toy industry, have purchased 16 plots of land in fire-ravaged Malibu through their tech company. They plan to invest in AI-designed, mass-produced homes made in China, according to KABC.
The Mowbray brothers are the masterminds behind Zuru, a global toy giant known for popular products like Robo Fish, Bunch O Balloons, and Mini Brands. Their ventures have since broadened into robotics, construction, and household items.
Reports suggest that the brothers intend to produce affordable, factory-constructed homes on their newly acquired plots, aiming to make them available to buyers within the next three years.
‘What’s unique with our system, it’s a fire-safe system. Walls are made out of AAC, which is a very lightweight concrete that has high insulated values, and the ceiling, the roofs are made of concrete,’ Marcel Fontijn, the director of operations at the Mowbray’s company Zuru Tech told the local news station.
But Malibu City Councilman Steve Uhring told KABC he is concerned the brothers will combine the lots to build mega mansions, making them unaffordable for residents who lost their homes.
Toy tycoons Nick and Mat Mowbray purchased 16 wildfire-burned plots in Malibu using their tech company
Malibu locals are terrified they will not be able to afford to return to their beloved coastal enclave because the wealthy developers are snapping up properties
‘It’s gotta be a community that has a group of homeowners who live here, who are invested in the community, who participate in what goes on in the community, and that’s what will make us a good city again,’ Uhring said.
‘I think as we get further down the line, everybody’s gonna realize the boys from New Zealand are billionaires, they’re in it to make money.
‘I think whether this plan they got right now is the one that’s gonna make them money, whether there will be a revised plan down the road, my crystal ball’s not good enough to tell you how that’s going to work out.’
Fontijn insisted the brothers genuinely want to help rebuild Malibu and the luxury prefabricated houses will be priced based on the real estate market when they are listed.
‘Our attention is not of stealing their land or commercializing Malibu. We truly want to return Malibu to what it can be, hopefully a better version of its past self,’ he said.
‘Our plan was to build one home that was used by the Mowbrays, but after we bought the first lot, we had many public inquiries if we were interested in buying additional lots.
‘We don’t want to go through a California Coastal Commission to build very large mansions. We want to truly rebuild what was here before.’
Rebuilding appears to be slow in Malibu, where only 22 building permits have been issued since the fires.
Malibu City Councilman Steve Uhring (pictured) believes the brothers purchased the properties to make a profit
Roughly 720 Malibu properties were burned to the ground during the 2025 LA fires. One year later, only 22 building permits have been issued in Malibu
Meanwhile more than 1,300 permits have been issued in the city of Los Angeles in Pacific Palisades.
Malibu locals fear that at the current pace, rebuilding may take more than a decade and have started putting their properties up for sale.
In October, experts warned that ‘supply is exceeding demand’ and burned up lots are being listed at discounted rates of 20 to 60 percent, according to the LA Times.
At the time, around 75 lots had sold in Malibu since the deadly blaze, but sales were slowing down and 47 percent of the 160 remaining listed lots had dropped in price.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Zuru and the Mowbrays’ representative for comment.
