TRADING SPACES

Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch Sold to Billionaire Ron Burkle for $22 Million

The 2,700 acres were listed for $100 million in 2015. Billionaire Ron Burkle told The Wall Street Journal that he viewed the property as “a land bank opportunity.”

Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch has sold to a billionaire former associate of the pop star for $22 million. The 2,700 acres have been on and off the market over the past five years, and the property was listed for $100 million in 2015 and again for $31 million last year. Billionaire Ron Burkle, who advised Jackson on investments, bought the property when it was not publicly listed for sale. He told The Wall Street Journal that he viewed the property as “a land bank opportunity.” Jackson paid $19.5 million for the ranch in 1987 and defaulted on a loan backed by it in 2008.

Last year, New York magazine reported that Burkle took what were described as humanitarian trips to Africa with Bill Clinton on Jeffrey Epstein’s private Boeing 727.