End of an era.

:sad:

https://www.showbiz411.com/2020/12/24/l ... investment

Long Time Michael Jackson Friend Ron Burkle Buys the Former Neverland Ranch as A Land Bank Investment

by Roger Friedman - December 24, 2020

Colony Capital and Tom Barrack no longer own Michael Jackson’s former Neverland Ranch.

Ron Burkle — investor, philanthropist and supermarket king — has bought the Sycamore Valley Ranch from Barrack for a reported $22 million.

I like this idea a lot. Burkle was a good friend to Michael, sheltering him and helping with financial problems when he needed it.

Burkle’s aide de camp Frank Quintero tells me:

“This is a land bank of 2700 acres of spectacular land. Ron Burkle is a resident of Montana and has owned approximately 1,000 acres in Oak Glen, California since the 70s. Like that property, this is just a land bank opportunity.”

Quintero continues: “At the time he purchased the Sycamore Valley Ranch property it was not listed and he bought it from the seller directly. Ron was looking at Zaca Lake, which adjoins the property, for a possible Soho House retreat. which he decided was over priced and far too remote. The Sycamore Valley Ranch property adjoins it and when Ron saw the land from the air he called Tom Barrack directly and asked if he’d sell it. ”

During the last 10 years of his life, Michael let Neverland wilt. By the time he died, the property had been through foreclosure. Barrack and Colony Capital came in through Michael’s erstwhile manager, the horrible Tohme Tohme, who worked for Barrack and came to be one of last financial predators of the King of Pop.

Burkle will not be living at Neverland, Quintero says. He remains a full time resident of Montana. Who knows? Maybe he’ll let the Jackson children do something with the ranch. But I have no information on that, it’s just speculation.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... e-22M.html

Michael Jackson's Neverland gets a new owner as the star's former associate billionaire Ron Burkle snaps up the infamous ranch for $22M - a whopping $80M lower than the initial asking price
Ron Burkle has bought the huge mansion and sprawling grounds located in Los Olivos, around 40 miles from Santa Barbara for $22 million, according to the Wall Street Journal
The ranch first hit the market with a $100 million price tag in 2015 but its price was repeatedly slashed
The 2,700-acre estate boasts a 12,000 square-foot Normandy-style mansion and 21 other structures
There are multiple guesthouses, a 50-seat movie theater and a swimming pool with a cabana
It was once home to the 'King of Pop' and named Neverland after J.M. Barrie's 'Peter Pan'
It used to feature an amusement park, rail track and a zoo with exotic animals but those are now gone
It still features the iconic Neverland clock in the lawn along with the murky past

Michael Jackson's Neverland finally has a new owner after the star's former associate billionaire Ron Burkle snapped up the infamous California ranch for $22 million - a whopping $80 million lower than the initial asking price.

Burkle, co-founder of investment firm Yucaipa Companies and co-owner of Soho House, bagged the huge mansion and sprawling grounds located in Los Olivos, around 40 miles from Santa Barbara, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Once home to the 'King of Pop', the ranch was inspired by J.M. Barrie's novel 'Peter Pan' and used to feature an amusement park, rail track and a zoo.

But, the ranch languished as Jackson was plagued by financial issues and allegations that he sexually abused children there.



The ranch first hit the market with a $100 million price tag back in 2015 - six years after Jackson's death from a drug overdose.

But it's troubled past has made it difficult to shift. It has been on and off the market for the last five years and its price has been repeatedly slashed.

In 2017 it was reduced by a third to a $67 million asking price, before more than halving again to $31 million in 2019, the Journal reported.

Burkle has found himself a bargain paying around a fifth of the original asking price and only a fraction more than the $19.5 million Jackson paid for the ranch back in 1987.

The billionaire is now the proud new owner of the 2,700 acre estate complete with the 12,000 square-foot Normandy-style mansion.



Outside the main house, the ranch boasts 21 structures including multiple guesthouses and a 50-seat movie theater, according to the listing.

Then there's several amenities for sports fans with the swimming pool with a cabana, a basketball court, and a tennis court set among the grounds.

But several of the famous features from Jackson's time there are long gone as his estate sought to distance it from the abuse allegations.

The amusement park is gone as are the exotic animals including orangutans and an elephant named Gypsy, while the estate was renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch.

Mourad Mesellaty

Ronald Burkle is a renowned philanthropist, Burkle is the founder and president of the Ronald W. Burkle Foundation, which "seeks to positively influence people and communities around the world" and the billionaire regularly participates in fundraising events to fight child hunger in the United States.
Ronald Burkle had also been close to Michael Jackson, especially as a business advisor when the singer was facing difficult time. Michael thanked him for his support in the booklet of the Thriller 25 album in 2008: "To Ron Burkle, You are our real friend and we love you unconditionnally. Love Prince, Paris, Blanket and Michael Jackson."
Ron Burkle is also a lover of beautiful mansions. He owned several of them, among which we can mention the famous Ennis House located in the Los Feliz neighborhood, the Ennis House was designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1923 and based on ancient Maya temples. Considered as one of the most houses in Los Angeles.
In 1996, Michael Jackson and his nephews, the 3T, filmed the video of the song 'Why' in this mansion.
The fact that Ronald Burkle bought Neverland is a good thing for me because he was a friend of Michael's and he knows what this house meant to him. I think he will invest himself in restoring it as he has done in other homes. Neverland ranch could have been sold to foreign investors and decided to tear down the house, so let's stay positive about what happens next.

Dan Reed famously said that Leaving Neverland was not about Michael. Strange then how he still seems so obsessed with him.




What "haunts" Dan Reed about Neverland is that the credibility of his Leaving Neverland star James Safechuck was shattered when he told a provably false, bald-faced lie about being abused in a train station that didn't exist on the property at the time.

EXCLUSIVE: Aerial photos show Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch restored to a 'children's fairytale' complete with carnival rides after billionaire pal of Bill Clinton bought the 'rotting estate' for $22million
Billionaire Ron Burkle purchased Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch for $22 million in December last year
Stunning DailyMail.com aerial photos show that he's restored it back into a fairytale 'children's paradise'
The wealthy businessman has reinstalled carnival rides and repaired the train track, which wraps around the 2,700 acre estate
Burkle has recreated Jackson's playful theme with a slide, swings, spinning tea cups and pirate ship
'It was kind of a depressing place. It wasn't the beautiful place that it was before. It just needed flowers and life in it again,' Burkle said of the transformation
Burkle was a financial adviser to Michael Jackson after meeting him at an event in the mid-2000s
The 69-year-old businessman flew on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet the Lolita Express at least three times with Bill Clinton
By CHRIS WHITE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 20:29 GMT, 13 December 2021

Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch has been restored back into a 'children's paradise' after it sat rotting following the pop star's death.
Billionaire Ron Burkle purchased Michael Jackson's Neverland for $22 million in December last year - and exclusive DailyMail.com aerial photos show the work he put in to make it a fairytale land once more.

The wealthy businessman has reinstalled carnival rides and repaired the train track, which wraps around the 2,700 acre estate.

Once home to the King of Pop, the ranch in Santa Ynez Valley, California, was inspired by J.M. Barrie's novel 'Peter Pan' and featured an amusement park and zoo.

As can be seen in stunning exclusive images, Burkle has recreated the same theme with a slide, swings, spinning tea cups and pirate ship.

He even revitalized the infamous floral Neverland clock face and train station.

Burkle was a financial adviser to Michael Jackson after meeting him at an event for under-privileged children in the mid-2000s.

He snapped up the property at nearly $80million less than the asking price.




The 69-year-old businessman also appeared in the flight log for Jeffrey Epstein's notorious private jet, the Lolita Express, being named three times on trips with Bill Clinton and actor Kevin Spacey.

A 2008 Vanity Fairy story claimed that 'Burkle's usual means of transport is the custom-converted Boeing 757 that Clinton calls 'Ron Air' and that Burkle's own circle of young aides privately refer to as 'Air F*ck One.'

President Obama also welcomed Burkle at the White House in 2016 when The Pittsburgh Penguins - the hockey team owned by Burkle, won the Stanley cup.

In July, Burkle explained the Neverland purchase, stating that he was looking to buy the property next door as a new location for his luxury members only club Soho House, where he is the controlling shareholder, but decided it was too remote.

Instead, he bought his friend's ranch, which had been purchased by Colony Capital in 2008, whose chairman Tom Barrack was recently indicted for working as an agent for a foreign power and released on a $250million bond.
To the Wall Street Journal, Burkle explained that he wanted to give the ranch a facelift, repair the train station, which had been damaged by woodpeckers, fix the roads and eventually get the train line up and running again.

'It was kind of a depressing place. It wasn't the beautiful place that it was before. It just needed flowers and life in it again,' he said.

Burkle is said to be worth at least $2billion and is the co-founder of venture capitalists Yucapia Companies, so he wasn't strapped for cash when it came to renovating the estate completely.

The estate had been on the market on and off since 2016.

It had fallen into disrepair after police raided the ranch and charged the King of Pop with seven counts of child molestation.

Although he was sensationally acquitted, Jackson vowed never to step foot in Neverland again.



Previous photos show that the flower clock and train track were left in ruins, with the funfair completely ripped out, which previously had a Ferris wheel, carousel, bumper cars and amusement arcade, all of which were sold at auction.

According to the real estate listing, the ranch boasts 21 structures including multiple guesthouses and a 50-seat movie theater. There's also a swimming pool with a cabana, a basketball court, and a tennis court set among the grounds.

Jackson famously gave the property fantasy touches for his young fans to enjoy when they visited but he was accused by multiple alleged victims of abusing them at the ranch.

He died aged 50 of a drug overdose at a different home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles in 2009.

Neverland Valley
@_neverIand

Neverland has found its magic again! A girl named Jessica received an incredible birthday gift from her father — a visit to Neverland. It was she who showed the ranch from the inside today.