Gearbox founder and CEO Randy Pitchford buys Hollywood's Magic Castle

Gearbox founder and CEO Randy Pitchford has purchased one of Hollywood's most exclusive landmarks — the Magic Castle.

The Magic Castle, the private clubhouse of the Academy of Magical Arts, has been owned by the Glover family since 1961, when Thomas O. Glover purchased the home and the land. That same year, it was leased to the Larsen family, who began the Magic Castle.

Pitchford, whose Gearbox Entertainment Company developed the "Borderlands" franchise, is no stranger to the magic community — his representatives say he is a lifelong magician, a member of the Academy of Magical Arts, and is the grandnephew of the 20th century master magician, the Great Cardini.

"The Magic Castle is like bedrock — the center point of magic. The people who think of the Castle as their home and the place itself seem to have magical properties that have created and inspired some of the world's greatest entertainers," Pitchford said in a statement.

The sale price to Pitchford was not disclosed.

The Magic Castle is one of Hollywood's hard-to-get tickets — entrance is allowed only to members of the Academy of Magical Arts and their guests, or through courtesy invitations to magicians visiting from out of the United States. Scores of magicians and celebrities alike have performed there, including Orson Welles, Johnny Carson, Steve Martin, and Neil Patrick Harris, who was a past president of the Academy of Magical Arts.

During the pandemic, it opened to the public for blood drives and as a voting site.

Pitchford's purchase of the Magic Castle was an apparent relief to many members of the magic community, who expressed hope that he would preserve the landmark. Magicians such as David Copperfield, Penn Jillette, and his partner Teller all got on the record to applaud the sale.

"The Magic Castle is the heart of American magic. It's both a great performing venue and a historical and a cultural landmark," Teller said in a statement. "But a major fire and the pandemic put its future in doubt."

"For as long as I've known about the Magic Castle, it's been a bit precarious," Jillette said. "I always worried about it. Now I don't need to. The Magic Castle, the most important gathering place for magicians, is now in safe and loving hands."