World’s only private resort for billionaires goes bankrupt

World’s only private resort for billionaires goes bankrupt

World’s only private ski and golf resort for billionaires, Yellowstone Club (Montana, USA), has gone bankrupt. The club, which has Microsoft founder Bill Gates among its members, is unable to call in its credits, RIA Novosti reports. The company, which serves billionaires, has thus failed to withstand the financial crisis.

The most expensive and luxurious resort in Montana has filed for bankruptcy on account of its debts evaluated at $343 million. The debts had been saved as a result of the aggressive expansion politics and an intention to build additional offices in Scotland, Mexico and on the Caribbean islands.

Yellowstone is the location of the most expensive house in the world – the estate of logging tycoon Tim Blixseth worth $167 million. Blixseth founded the club in 1999. The resort has “cheaper” offers too – priced from 4 to 16 million dollars.

It is worthy of note that 125 members of the platinum club wrote a letter to Blixseth in May of the current year to set out their concerns about the policies that the resort administration was running.

The club had a very costly membership. A new member was supposed to receive an invitation from an existent member, pay the membership fee ($250,000), purchase a plot of local land (from $2 million) and finally build a house there. The monthly membership fee made up $16,000. In return, the club could offer the dream of any skier – ski rides on splendid slopes with no one else around.

Tim Blixseth built his 4,900-square-meter house of stone and wood. The house comes with 650,000 square meters of land. There are ten rooms and a pool in the building. The indoor pool can be quickly transferred into the outdoor pool with the help of the sliding glass wall.

19.11.2008

Source: Pravda