André Balazs is an American hotelier best known as the owner of Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles.
He built his career after co-founding a biotech company with his father and then moving into hotels.
Who is André Balazs?
André Balazs is an American businessman and hotelier from Boston, Massachusetts. He serves as president and chief executive officer of André Balazs Properties, a portfolio of hotels and residences.
His company owns Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, The Mercer in New York City, Sunset Beach on Shelter Island, and Chiltern Firehouse in London.
Balazs also founded the Standard Hotels chain. Earlier, in 1988, he co-founded the biotech company Biomatrix with his father.
He has dated actress Uma Thurman and comedian Chelsea Handler.
André Balazs and Chelsea Handler
Chelsea Handler and André Balazs are no longer together. The two dated on and off from 2011 to 2013.
Their first split came in November 2011, after less than a year together. They reconciled briefly in February 2012, and then got back together that fall.
Handler lived in Los Angeles while she hosted Chelsea Lately on E!. Meanwhile, Balazs ran his business from New York.
That distance made the relationship hard to sustain. In early October 2013, Handler confirmed the breakup on her talk show. At the time, she was 38 and Balazs was 56.
Early Life of André Balazs
André Balazs was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up mostly in Cambridge. His father, Endre Alexander Balazs, worked as a research professor at Harvard Medical School.
The elder Balazs founded the Retina Foundation and the Boston Biomedical Research Institute. He also directed ophthalmic research at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.
His mother, Eva K. Balazs, worked as a family therapist and psychologist at McLean Hospital. She was also a musician. Later, she helped form the New New Orleans Jazz Band.
André Balazs Age / Birthday
André Balazs is 69 years old as of 2026, born on January 31, 1957. His zodiac sign is Aquarius, a sign often linked with independence and originality.
He was born in Boston. Today, Balazs still leads André Balazs Properties as its chief executive officer.
André Balazs Ethnicity and Nationality
André Balazs is American by nationality and was born in the United States. His parents came from Hungary, so he is of Hungarian descent. He grew up mostly in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
André Balazs Education
Balazs graduated from Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School, a private preparatory school in Cambridge. He then attended Cornell University, where he joined the Quill and Dagger society.
Later, he attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. There he earned a joint master’s degree in journalism and business.
André Balazs Career
Biotech and Early Career (1980-2000)
In 1980, David Garth Associates hired Balazs as press secretary to Bess Myerson. She was then a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from New York.
Two years later, Andy Warhol recruited him as a founding trustee of the New York Academy of Art.
In 1988, Balazs co-founded Biomatrix with his father. The company developed six hyaluronan products.
That year, he also invested in the Manhattan nightclub M.K. and the Los Angeles supper club b.c.
Genzyme bought Biomatrix in 2000 for an estimated $738 million.
Hotels and the Standard Years (1989-2017)
In 1989, Balazs bought the property that became The Mercer Hotel in SoHo. A year later, he purchased and restored Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard for just over $12 million.
In 1997, he acquired and updated the Sunset Beach Hotel and Restaurant on Shelter Island. The Mercer Hotel reopened the following year, along with Mercer Kitchen.
He opened the first Standard hotel in West Hollywood in the late 1990s. More locations followed in Downtown Los Angeles, Miami, and New York City.
In 2013, Balazs sold an 80% stake in the Standard brand to Standard International. Four years later, in 2017, he left the Standard board.
Recent Work and Legal Matters (2007-Present)
In 2007, Balazs began a rosé wine collaboration with Wölffer Estate Vineyard on Long Island. He launched a seaplane service from Manhattan to the Hamptons in 2011.
In 2012, he established The Farm at Locusts-on-Hudson in Hyde Park, New York, to grow produce for his restaurants. He also owns Chiltern Firehouse, a hotel in a former London fire station, which opened in 2013.
In 2023, he partnered with the hospitality group Habitas to open its first U.S. location in Rhinebeck, New York.
In November 2017, The New York Times reported an allegation that Balazs groped Amanda Anka at a London dinner. Anka and her husband, Jason Bateman, said his actions were dealt with at the time.
In May 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Jules v. Andre Balazs Properties. The case involved a former employee and a federal court’s power over an arbitration award.
His Los Angeles flagship, Chateau Marmont, has its own official website. His profile and trivia also appear on IMDb.
André Balazs Awards and Recognition
In 2011, Balazs received the first Design Patron Award from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Three years later, British GQ honored him in its Men of the Year awards.
- Design Patron Award, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (2011)
- Men of the Year, Entrepreneur category, British GQ (2014)
He has also served on the boards of the New York Public Theater and the Wolfsonian Museum.
André Balazs Wife and Past Relationships
Balazs married Katie Ford, the former CEO of Ford Models, on November 16, 1985. They divorced in 2004.
Balazs then became engaged to actress Uma Thurman, and that engagement ended in 2007 without a wedding. The two briefly rekindled their relationship in 2014 and 2015.
He also dated Chelsea Handler from 2011 to 2013. Cosima Vesey is the daughter of Thomas Vesey, 7th Viscount de Vesci, and Sita-Maria de Breffny. She and Balazs have a son, born in July 2017.
André Balazs Children
André Balazs has three children. He has two daughters with Katie Ford, born in 1991 and 1994.
His younger daughter is named Isabel. His son Ivo was born on July 9, 2017. His mother is Cosima Vesey.
André Balazs Net Worth
André Balazs’s estimated net worth is $800 million as of 2026. His wealth comes mainly from hotels, real estate, and the sale of his biotech company.
Business Ventures
Balazs built André Balazs Properties around Chateau Marmont, The Mercer, Sunset Beach, and Chiltern Firehouse.
Genzyme’s estimated $738 million purchase of Biomatrix in 2000 gave him major early capital. His sale of an 80% stake in Standard Hotels in 2013 added to that base.
Real Estate
In June 2021, Balazs sold his four-bedroom loft at 158 Mercer Street in SoHo for $10.35 million. He had bought the 4,200-square-foot unit in 2003 for $5.75 million.
In 2007, he reportedly paid $4.97 million for Jean Prouvé’s Maison Tropicale at a Christie’s auction.
He has also developed residential projects, including 15 William in Manhattan’s Financial District.
Balazs’s income comes mainly from his hotels, plus real estate and his earlier biotech profits.
André Balazs Social Media
André Balazs Properties shares news from its hotels on Instagram at @andrebalazsproperties.
The company also runs an official page on LinkedIn. More career detail appears on his Wikipedia entry.
Conclusion
André Balazs turned a biotech windfall into a hotel portfolio that includes Chateau Marmont, The Mercer, and Chiltern Firehouse.
His high-profile relationships with Chelsea Handler and Uma Thurman kept him in the headlines as much as his properties did.