A Malibu leader has expressed concern that billionaire New Zealand brothers may price residents out of their community after the pair snapped up 16 plots burned in wildfires. 

Nick and Mat Mowbray, founders of toy company Zuru that also has interests in consumer goods and housing, bought plots on La Costa and Carbon beaches in Malibu for US$65 million ($110.7m), The Real Deal real estate news website reported in August. 

The properties are located amid wide stretches of Los Angeles that were devastated by wildfires in January 2025. 

Nick Mowbray had previously told Bloomberg the firm’s housing business would “dwarf everything we’ve ever done”, and also said at the China Business Summit in Auckland the Malibu beachfront redevelopment would be one of its first projects. 

Malibu City Councilman Steve Uhring told Los Angeles TV station KABC he’s concerned residents who lost their homes will be priced out of the area because he believes the New Zealanders will build mega-mansions on these plots. 

“It’s got to 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 going to realise the boys from New Zealand are billionaires, they’re in it to make money.” 

Zuru Tech director of operations Marcel Fontijn told KABC the brothers wanted to help rebuild Malibu, with the house prices being based on the real estate market when they are eventually listed. 

“Our attention is not on stealing their land or commercialising Malibu. We truly want to return Malibu to what it can be, hopefully a better version of its past self,” Fontijn said. 

“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.” 

When approached for comment by the Herald, Nick Mowbray referred to Fontijn’s words on KABC. 

Elsewhere, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the pace of rebuilding in the city had been inspiring but many were still struggling a year on. 

“Even though there’s lots of rebuilding going on, most people who are rebuilding are still not home,” Bass told KABC, “and they had to go through the holidays, and I know there’s a lot of grief they’re still experiencing.”