On Wednesday afternoon, as devastating wildfires tore across thousands of acres in Los Angeles, the beachfront Malibu home of Miami resident and prominent Scientologist Grant Cardone caught fire.

Videos Cardone posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, show firefighters battling flames engulfing part of his 9,500-square-foot home on exclusive Carbon Beach, AKA Billionaire’s Beach. Photos Cardone later shared show the aftermath of the destruction: The charred remains of a glitzy lounge area and fire pit on the home’s sprawling deck overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Cardone’s residence appeared to be the last one standing among the row of scorched mansions.

But even as his home went up in flames before his very eyes, Cardone took to social media to diminish climate change as a factor in the ongoing disaster.

“California Fires will be blamed on Climate Change but do NOT believe it…,” he wrote on X.

California Fires will be blamed on Climate Change but do NOT believe it. These fires will produce $100’s of billion in losses due to incompetence, corrupted budgets, an oppressive coastal commission, over regulation, bizarre environmental initiatives, homeless camps, and freak… pic.twitter.com/KD1Rw02QvB

— Grant Cardone (@GrantCardone) January 9, 2025
“Santa Anna [sic] winds, low humidity, and fires have existed in the state of California forever,” Cardone went on. “The state’s lack of leadership, Newsom, has been unwilling to invest in permanent solutions like burying electrical, increase access to plentiful water and managing forestry floors, instead wasting hundreds of billions on high-speed rails to nowhere, liberal agendas, and climate conspiracies.”

The rant echoes criticisms President-elect Donald Trump leveled at California Gov. Gavin Newsom during his first stint in the White House and again this week.

Unprecedented wildfires have raged across parts of Southern California since earlier this week. At least five fires in the Los Angeles area have reportedly scorched more than 45 square miles and burned more than 2,000 structures across parts of Southern California. Five people have died, while at least 130,000 others are under evacuation orders.

Experts say the wildfires are the result of an unprecedented combination of factors at this time of year: the worst high-wind event in Southern California in more than a decade, plus some of the driest conditions on record for early January, and, yes, climate change, which “has produced warmer and drier conditions with prolonged droughts that stress forest vegetation, facilitating pest outbreaks and tree death, leading to the accumulation of surface fuel,” the federal government wrote in its Fifth National Climate Assessment, published in 2023.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), warming temperatures and drier conditions have contributed to an increase in the frequency of large wildfires and acres of land burned across the nation every year.

Cardone, one of the world’s leading “finfluencers” (financial influencers) and a longtime member of the Church of Scientology, owns and operates several companies, including Cardone Capital and Cardone Enterprises. He’s also known for his presence on social media, where he shares wealth-building tips with his 7.1 million Facebook followers, 4.7 million Instagram followers, and 2.6 million YouTube subscribers.

In July 2024, Cardone listed his $42 million Miami mansion for sale on a crypto real estate platform. He currently owns a handful of apartments across South Florida under Cardone Capital’s 10X Living. The 10X headquarters are located in Aventura.

In 2023, the Church of Scientology told the Huffington Post that while Cardone is “undeniably a prominent parishioner,” he “holds no official nor unofficial position in the Church hierarchy and has no special ‘status.”

“The fact is there are many Scientologists and they are everywhere around the world. You can find them in their homes, at work, and helping others in the community,” the church said.

In May 2024, Cardone listed the Malibu home off-market, asking $65 million. He previously purchased the property from a Ukrainian oligarch for $40 million in January 2022, shortly before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Cardone renovated the six-bedroom mansion, which occupies 150 feet of prime oceanfront, to add a “biohacker gym” and a new “chef’s kitchen.” Google Maps shows that its perch on the Pacific Coast Highway is conveniently located just opposite a fire station.