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Michael Jackson’s ‘Neverland Ranch’ Sold To Billionaire Investor

   DailyWire.com
UNITED STATES - NOVEMBER 22: Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch near Santa Barbara, Calif.
John Roca/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

A billionaire investor who once served as a business adviser to Michael Jackson has reportedly purchased the late singer’s former home, previously known as Neverland Ranch, for $22 million after a series of price drops over the past five years.

Citing public records and multiple sources familiar with the transaction, The Wall Street Journal reports Ron Burkle recently bought the eccentric estate that sits about 40 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, California, at the edge of Los Padres National Forest. Burkle is a co-founder of Yucaipa Companies, an investment firm, and is part-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL franchise.

According to the outlet, the property was rebranded Sycamore Valley Ranch after Jackson died in 2009. It has been on and off the market after an initial listing for $100 million in 2015.

Burkle’s spokesman reportedly said the acquisition was a land banking investment.

As The Wall Street Journal recently reported:

Mr. Jackson’s estate co-owned the ranch with a fund managed by Colony Capital, a real-estate investment trust. Amid financial struggles, Mr. Jackson had defaulted on a loan backed by the ranch and Colony bought the note in 2008, putting the property’s title into a joint venture it formed with the pop star. Mr. Jackson originally paid about $19.5 million for the ranch in 1987.

Mr. Jackson made Neverland famous by installing quirky features like a railroad and an amusement park, which included a Ferris wheel and a merry-go-round. He also kept orangutans and an elephant there. A whimsical floral clock in the front of the property spelled out “Neverland.” The ranch was named for the fantasy world in J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan.”

The Los Olivos property spans about 2,700 acres and includes about 22 structures, including a 12,000-square-foot Normandy-style mansion. There are also several guesthouses, a swimming pool with a cabana, a basketball court, a tennis court and a 50-seat movie theater, The Wall Street Journal reported when the property came on the market.

According to The New York Times, Jackson spent $35 million to transform Neverland into an entertainment complex that seemingly played off the Peter Pan central theme of a boy who wanted to remain a child, resisting adult responsibility.

Jackson would often invite children to visit the ranch. However, some of the kids he hosted went on to allege that the international musical icon sexually abused them. Jackson vehemently denied the accusations but still settled out of court with his first accuser in 1993. According to the Times, after he was acquitted in a case that went to trial in 2005, Jackson never returned to live at Neverland. He died of acute propofol intoxication four years later.

In 2019, ten years after his death, HBO broadcast the controversial “Leaving Neverland” documentary that presented sexual abuse allegations against Jackson. The film’s two accusers, James Safechuck and Wade Robson, defended Jackson’s honor when he was alive. But after he died, both filed separate lawsuits against his estate claiming they had been molested by the late King of Pop. A court dismissed Safechuck’s suit in October, while Robson’s case is reportedly set to go to trial in June 2021.

Related: Federal Appeals Court Sides With Michael Jackson’s Estate, HBO Must Arbitrate ‘Leaving Neverland’ Dispute

Related: Judge Dismisses Revived Lawsuit From Michael Jackson’s ‘Leaving Neverland’ Accuser

 

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