We live in a voyeuristic society. At Haute Living, we are ok with that. Otherwise, we might feel uncomfortable providing our readers with Google Earth views of the breathtaking homes of A-list celebrities a few times each week. This week, Forbes has us beat: the magazine-cum-website has released an up-close-and-personal look at the homes of prominent American Billionaires.
The piece starts out with info about Bill Gate’s 66,000-square-foot home, which Is built into a hillside on the edge of Lake Washington, near Seattle. It includes a 60-foot swimming pool with an underwater music system, a domed library with two “secret” bookcase doors and a 1,000-square-foot dining room. Next is Warren Buffet’s 6,000-square-foot Nebraska home that he bought in 1958 for $31,000. The “Homes of Billionaires in Pictures” feature that accompanies the article offers insight into where the exorbinantly rich rest their weary heads.
The list includes the homes of Gates and Buffet, as well as Ron Perelman, Larry Ellison (the same home featured in Celebrity Living: Malbu), Oprah Winfrey, Paul Allen, Michael Dell, Donald Trump, Tamir Sapir, Craig McCaw, David Geffen, Michael Bloomberg, Steven Speilberg, Sumner Redstone, J. Christopher Flowers, and David Koch.
The piece explains the behind-the-scenes deals that allow these mega moguls to acquire $40 million properties. Forbes explains:
“There are two ways in which billionaires facilitate a home buy.
One is to simply ask for it. That’s what financier Henry Kravis did in 2006 when he made an unsolicited $50 million offer for a 15,255-square-foot Palm Beach property; the owner readily accepted.
Billionaire sellers have found that an under-the-radar arrangement has its advantages. Proposing offers or piquing interest among friends can be a lucrative strategy.
‘Some billionaires aren’t certain they want to sell,’ says Dolly Lenz, a broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman. ‘So they’ll float a deal where they tell their friends that if they could get X for their property, they would sell it.’
To read the whole piece, go here:Forbes
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