RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser Sells Apartment, Draws Attention To His Opulent Lifestyle

Rob Glaser, founder and CEO of digital entertainment company RealNetworks, has been living like an opulent god up in Seattle. This much we know thanks to TechFlash, which noticed that Glaser recently sold his almost scandalously cool 4,600-square-foot, glass-lined, three-bedroom penthouse for a bit of a discount to its advertised price of $12 million. (In a sign of the times, the buyer — who is also getting grand views of Elliot Bay, a rooftop terrace, an infinity lap pool, and skylights galore — paid $9.75 million.)

You can check out the pad here, though be warned what you see may cause feelings of depression and inadequacy upon return to your comparatively unremarkable home later today.

Apparently, there’s nothing more to the move than the twins that 47-year-old Glaser and his wife welcomed a couple of years ago. To accommodate the children, they recently moved into a new home in Seattle.

RealNetworks, which raised $55 million from a long line of investors, including Accel Partners, Technology Crossover Ventures, and Microsoft, went public in 1997. Recently, the company, known for the popular Rhapsody online music service and its RealPlayer media player, has  taken a beating, as consumer spending and online advertising have dropped off. Last Thursday, it posted a fourth-quarter loss of $240.5 million compared with net income of $2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.