Billionaire Accused of Stealing Broad Beach Sand Will Pay With a Beach
In lieu of a fine, a $2 million Big Rock fire lot would become public beach.
Holly Bieler · September 6, 2026 · Malibu
Mark Attanasio, the billionaire owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, will buy a $2 million beachfront lot near Big Rock and hand it over to the public, to settle Coastal Commission charges that his construction crews dug up sand from Broad Beach in 2024, [the Los Angeles Times is reporting](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-09-04/billionaire-was-accused-of-stealing-malibu-sand-now-hes-donating-new-beach-to-public).
The deal, which goes before the Coastal Commission for a vote next Thursday, is an unusual one. Instead of paying a fine, Attanasio has agreed to purchase a 5,135 square foot lot with 70 feet of beach frontage, about 14 miles east of his Broad Beach home, and donate it to a public agency once the sale closes. The lot previously held a three-unit building that burned in the Palisades Fire.
"We're very excited because we rarely have the opportunity to dedicate a whole parcel to the public," Lisa Haage, the commission's chief of enforcement, told the Times. Haage said it's the first property donation she can remember in a Malibu settlement, in a city where residents are routinely fined for blocking beach access.
The case dates to 2024, when neighbors caught Attanasio's workers on video digging a large hole in the sand below the tide line in front of his home, and hauling sand and rocks up behind his retaining wall. A neighbor sued, and the Coastal Commission opened an investigation, which found the unpermitted excavation degraded sensitive habitat and partially blocked public access to the beach.
Attanasio has also agreed to return the sand and restore the beach. The commission's enforcement counsel, Robert Moddelmog, told the Times the excavator left a large hole in the rocky intertidal zone, where fish, sea stars and other species live.
Exactly where the new public beach will be remains a mystery. The commission's staff report says only that the lot is in the Big Rock area, [KBUU is reporting](https://malibu.fm/story/brewers-owner-to-buy-big-rock-lot-as-penalty-for-beach-violations-20260904), and the address was left off the agenda for next week's meeting, which will be held in Eureka, 655 miles north of Malibu.
What the public will get is also undecided. The staff report says the lot could eventually be used for public parking or a formal beach access stairway, though specific plans won't be made until a public agency takes ownership. Public parking in the area is "extremely limited," the report notes. City officials have long complained about the state opening beach access points on PCH without parking, bathrooms or safe pedestrian crossings.
Sand has been a sore subject on Broad Beach for years. Storms and high tides have stripped the shoreline, and in 2015, residents including Dustin Hoffman, Ray Romano and Pierce Brosnan committed $31 million to a project to replenish it.