James McClain Last summer, an idiosyncratic Malibu property sold for exactly $40 million in a cash deal, a little less than half the original $81.5 million asking price. Best-known as the Johnny Carson estate, after the iconic TV personality who owned it for decades, the compound was sold by producer Sidney Kimmel, who had purchased the 4.16-acre spread in 2007 from Carson’s widow Alexis for $36.5 million.