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LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) – Michael Jackson’s famous Neverland Ranch in California was finally sold, more than 10 years after the death of the pop star who left the property following his trial on charges of molesting a child there. .
Billionaire investor Ron Burkle, a former friend of Jackson’s family, recently bought the sprawling 2,700-acre (1,100ha) property, his spokesman said Thursday (December 24).
The Wall Street Journal said that the property, which was renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch several years ago, sold for $ 22 million (Singaporean $ 29 million) according to public records.
In 2015, the sale price was US $ 100 million and in 2017 it was re-quoted for US $ 67 million.
Burkle’s spokesman said the businessman saw the investment as an opportunity to do banking.
He saw the property from the air while looking elsewhere and contacted Tom Barrack, the founder of real estate investment firm Colony Capital, to seal the sale.
The ranch was off the market at the time.
Jackson, who died of an overdose of the anesthetic Propofol in 2009 at age 50, bought the property in Los Olivos, about 190 kilometers north of Los Angeles, in 1988 for $ 19.5 million.
After financial troubles, in 2008 he turned over the title to Colony Capital, which had a loan on the property.
Neverland, a name taken from the “Peter Pan” story of a boy who refused to grow up, became Jackson’s favorite haven and featured a zoo, railroad, and theme park attractions.
It was also where he entertained the children, one of whom brought charges of sexual abuse against the singer that resulted in a 2005 trial and Jackson’s acquittal of all charges.
Jackson vowed never to return to Neverland after the trial.
Burkle is the majority shareholder of Soho House, a private membership club that attracts people from the entertainment and media industries and has properties in New York, London, Los Angeles and Hong Kong.
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