Never say never. Michael Jackson’s unknown Neverland Ranch has found a new owner.
Billionaire Ron Burkle, co-founder of investment firm Yucaipa Companies and a former partner of Jackson, bought the property in Los Olivos, California, for 22 million dollars, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Beyond spinning around 2,700 acres and a mansion of nearly 12,000 square meters – among the many structures on the property – Burkle also got a deal. The property first entered the market in 2015, for a sum of 100 million dollars.
Since then, the spread has disappeared from the market. In 2017, it returned to sales asking for $ 67 million, after a massive price reduction of $ 33 million. In 2019, it was listed for $ 31 million, the Journal added.
Beyond the extensive size of the property, it is also full of facilities – such as a 50-seat cinema, a basketball court and several guesthouses – that have long been the subject of dark stories.
In 2016, a report came out claiming that Jackson keeps a closet with three locks in a guest house full of photos of naked boys and children’s toys. More recently, the 2019 documentary “Leaving Neverland” focused on the stories of two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who claimed that Jackson sexually abused them as children at Neverland Ranch, as well as elsewhere.
Jackson, who died at the age of 50 in 2009 from an acute drug overdose, stopped visiting Neverland following his 2005 acquittal on child molestation charges. While it was being sold, Neverland was renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch in an apparent effort to rid the property of its disturbing heritage. Jackson bought it for about $ 19.5 million in 1987 and gave the famous fantastic touches “Peter Pan” by adding an amusement park, which has since been removed.
Jackson’s estate then owned Neverland with a fund managed by the Colony Capital real estate investment trust. According to the newspaper, Jackson lost a farm loan, and Colony bought the banknote in 2008, which put the title in a joint venture. Burkle was Jackson’s business adviser in the mid-2000s, the Journal added, at a time when Jackson was trying to prevent the financial downturn due in part to his generous lifestyle.
The property is located 30 minutes from downtown Santa Barbara and has a total of 22 structures, including a three-bedroom guest house with a fireplace.