A billionaire California mansion owner has agreed to turn over a $2 million piece of beachfront as a mea culpa for previously digging up a rare slice of protected Malibu beach.
Mark Attanasio, owner of MLB's Milwaukee Brewers, has been embroiled in litigation since 2024 over allegations that his company 2XMD Partners LLC used excavators and other heavy equipment to remove sand and boulders from a public beach along Lechuza Point, just north of Point Dume. The work was done to help shore up Attanasio's own beachfront property nearby, including the repair of a failing seawall. Attanasio also erected an unpermitted private beach stairway and a revetment in a public access area in order for the work equipment to be brought to the shoreline.
The California Coastal Commission, which oversees the protection of the state's public coastline, sent a notice of violation letter to Attanasio at the time, alleging damage to a delicate marine protected area along the western edge of Broad Beach.
Attanasio's workers "extracted sand, beach cobbles, and boulders from the sensitive rocky intertidal habitat … then piled the extracted sand, cobbles, and boulders on the beach, before placing them behind the seawall for use as fill material," reads a September 2026 report from the Coastal Commission. "Respondent's excavators were also seen digging up sand from the beach and similarly placing it behind the seawall for use as fill."
Now, almost two years and much negotiating later, the matter is finally being settled, and at great cost to Attanasio himself.
For starters, Attanasio has agreed to remove all unpermitted work and anything that stands in the way of public access. He's also agreed to restore a missing chunk of the area's boulder field that had been excavated within the tideland area. "Over 1,000 species of algae and invertebrates inhabit this zone," as well as fish species and sea stars, the commission said of the rocky part of Broad Beach.
Biggest of all, Attanasio agreed to turn over "a very valuable beachfront property in eastern Malibu to the public, and at no cost to the public," the commission's report states. The Big Rock Beach property, well east of Point Dume and closer to the Pacific Palisades, was previously listed for sale for $2 million.
"Only a few public accessways exist within this nearly six miles of coastline," the report reads. "Therefore, the addition of an entire beachfront parcel will greatly help to increase opportunities for public enjoyment of the coast." The commission said that the parcel could eventually be developed to include a staircase to the shoreline. In a news release sent following a vote to confirm the penalties against Attanasio last week, Coastal Commission Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge called the agreement "a major win for Californians."
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This article originally published at Billionaire MLB owner penalized $2M for illegal ocean dig at Malibu mansion.