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The Neverland ranch of the late pop star Michael Jackson has reportedly been sold to a billionaire investor for a quarter of its initial asking price.<\/p>\nThe Neverland ranch of the late pop star Michael Jackson has reportedly been sold to a billionaire investor for a quarter of its initial asking price.<\/p>\n
Ron Burkle, a former friend of Jackson, recently bought the estate in Los Olivos, California, his spokesman said.<\/p>\n
He paid $22m (\u00a316.2m) for Neverland, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing public records and three people familiar with the deal.<\/p>\n
The 2,700-acre (1,100 hectare) compound was first listed for $100m in 2015.<\/p>\n
Since then Neverland, north of Santa Barbara city, has been on and off the market, listed most recently last year for the lower price of $31m.<\/p>\n
Jackson originally paid about $19.5m for Neverland, which he named after a fictional island where children never grow up in \u200eJM Barrie's Peter Pan story.<\/p>\n
The Thriller singer bought Neverland in 1987, making it his home during the height of his fame.<\/p>\n
He turned the ranch into an entertainment complex, building a zoo and fairground on site, where he regularly entertained children and their families.<\/p>\n
In the 1990s and 2000s, Neverland became the centre of various investigations into child sexual assault allegations against Jackson.<\/p>\n
Jackson denied allegations by Santa Barbara prosecutors that he had used Neverland as a fantasy world to groom young boys.<\/p>\n
In 2005, Jackson was tried and acquitted of allegations he abused a 13-year-old boy at the ranch.<\/p>\n
Jackson never returned to Neverland. Four years later, in June 2009, Jackson died at another home in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest induced by a drug overdose.<\/p>\n
Since his death Jackson has been the subject of further abuse allegations, including those made in a documentary called Leaving Neverland in 2019.<\/p>\n
Neverland has been rebranded as Sycamore Valley Ranch and has undergone extensive redevelopment since Jackson's death.<\/p>\n
Mr Burkle's spokesman said the businessman saw the investment as a land banking opportunity.<\/p>\n
He spotted the estate from the air while looking at another location and contacted Tom Barrack, the founder of real-estate investment company Colony Capital LLC, to seal the sale.<\/p>\n
Mr Burkle, 68, is co-founder and managing partner of Yucaipa Companies, LLC, a private investment firm. His net worth as of 24 December 2020 was estimated to be $1.4bn, according to a profile by American business magazine Forbes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Neverland ranch of the late pop star Michael Jackson has reportedly been sold to a billionaire investor for a quarter of its initial asking price. Ron Burkle, a former friend of Jackson, recently bought the estate in Los Olivos, California, his spokesman said. He paid $22m (\u00a316.2m) for Neverland, the Wall Street Journal reported, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":65112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n