keep ~ hush hush
ロサンゼルス・タイムズ（電子版）はカリフォルニア州の不動産業界関係者の話として、ソフトバンクの孫正義社長がシリコンバレーに１億１７５０万ドル（約１０５億円）の豪邸を購入したと報じました。
Softbank has significant business dealings in the United States. It holds large stakes in Yahoo Japan and China's Alibaba Group. In October, Softbank announced a 20-billion deal to buy a majority stake in Sprint Nextel, the wireless carrier that trails AT&T and Verizon.
Son also has strong ties to the Bay Area. He moved from Japan to California when he was 16 and finished high school while staying with family and friends in South San Francisco. Son studied at UC Berkeley, where he got a first-hand look at technological innovation in the Bay Area. He returned to Japan and later started Softbank.
Representatives of Softbank could not be reached for comment.
Real estate agents in Silicon Valley say the buyer of the Woodside estate went to great lengths to keep the transaction hush hush. Son is known for protecting his privacy with Steve Jobs-worthy zeal.
The blockbuster price has been the talk of the town in Woodside, which endured hovering helicopters after the news of the sale broke last week.
It's one of the highest-priced residential sales ever in the U.S., topping the 100-million sale of a Los Altos Hills estate to Russian investor Yuri Milner in 2011. The neoclassical-style house was built in 2005 and was designed by architect Allan Greenberg. It sits on nearly 9 acres.
The seller was Tully Friedman, chief executive of Friedman, Fleischer and Lowe, a San Francisco private equity firm. The property was purchased in the name of SV Projects LLC.
SV Projects LLC has the same address as law firm Morrison-Foerster's Los Angeles office. Morrison & Foerster is representing Softbank in its acquisition of Sprint.
hushは日本語の「（静かにしてほしいときの）しっー」ですよね。そこからkeep ~ hush-hush（ハイフンを省略する場合も多い）は「秘密にする」「箝口令を敷く」という意味になります。しかし住宅の取引としては米国の過去最高水準ということなので、秘密にしておく方自体、無理なことだとは思いますが...ただただすごい！（GP）
