from http://www.journeyetc.com/travel-ideas/9-luxury-playgrounds-of-the-billionaires/
When you have at least 10 figures defining your bank account, you most likely have a holiday in style. People think of private islands, exotic places, secret entrances, and the works. Below we feature the playgrounds of billionaires.
Richard Branson (Necker Island)
The billionaire owner of the Virgin empire owns a whole 74-acre property just near St. Thomas. It is an island surrounded by blue-green waters and home to about 1010 flamingos. Necker Island is managed by a crew who will be more than willing to teach visitors to snorkel, kayak, or kitesurf. There is also a resident personal chef to make sure the billionaire’s taste buds are satisfied.
Branson rents out the whole island if he is not using it. Necker Island can accommodate 28 guests and have played hosts to famous personalities like Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, and Oprah.
Oprah (Antigua)
Oprah is the most famous and most powerful personality on television. She has a 60-acre land in Maui and she has a cool 420 acre piece of land she labeled Promised Land in Montecito in the state of California.
When Oprah wants the pristine waters of the Caribbean and the picture perfect palm trees, she goes to her private playground in Antigua. It is not really an isolate haven but she has neighbors like Giorgio Armani and Eric Clapton among others. Like the villa of George Clooney on Lake Como, the media mogul’s home is put on a spotlight if you take one of the boat tours along the coastline.
Silvio Berlusconi (Sardinia, Italy)
Silvio Berlusconi is the prime minister of Italy who also happens to be a billionaire because of his media investments. He has been into misunderstandings with Renato Soru, the president of Sardinia, over the development of his property Villa Certosa. Soru’s had ordered the stoppage of any constructions on the coast.
Villa Certosa is Berlusconi’s 150-acre private playground on the north eastern portion of the coast. We guess he ignored the president’s order and pushed through with his “State Secret”. He built two additional pools, artificial lagoon, and a James Bond-like underwater entrance.
Roman Abramovich (Wildcat Ridge, Colorado)
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich loves sailing on his Eclipse, a 557-ft yacht. He also loves skiing and wants to have the best experience out of it. Abramovich spent about $35 million to acquire the 200-acre Wildcat Ridge ranch just near Aspen. He has Kevin Costner and Jack Nicholson as neighbors. Soccer fans will know Abramovich as the owner of one of England’s best Premier League organizations, the Chelsea Football Club.
Bill Gates (West Greenland)
After retiring from Microsoft in mid-2008 to devote more time for philanthropy through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the technology god makes it a habit to take a break from charity by going to a skiing resort called Apussuit Adventure Camp.
Bill Gates hops into his chopper and travel about 15 miles out of Maniitsoq in West Greenland. One best thing about this place is that there are no ski lifts and he has all the space for himself.
Lakshmi Mittal (St. Moritz, Switzerland)
This billionaire moved to a posh residence in the Kensington district of London after making his fortune from his steel business. Sometimes it is incomprehensible why one will have to go out of a wonderful estate but Lakshmi goes to St. Moritz when he needs a break. This Alpine getaway is the favorite spot of the royal bloods and the Russian nouveau riche.
Francois-Henri Pinault (Ibiza, Spain)
The last name Pinault means the biggest fortunes in France. They have Gucci, Christie’s, and Samsonite as part of their empire. Francois-Henri, the son of the empire’s founder, wanted to woo his then date Salma Hayek. So he sailed to Ibiza where the rich and famous party. We believe Pinault convinced the Holywood Star. They got married on February 14 last year.
Ty Warner (Penthouse at the Four Seasons New York)
Ty Warner who founded Ty Inc that makes the Beanie Babies acquired several properties including his private playgrounds in Montecito and in Los Cabos, Mexico. Warner also owns the Four Seasons in the heart of New York where he enjoys the amenities f his 4,300 square foot penthouse with 25 feet high ceiling and a breath taking 360-degree view of the busy and the romantic Manhattan.
Paul Allen (the Octopus)
The co-founder of Microsoft Paul Allen owns a 416-ft yacht he calls Octopus. The tag price for this luxury ride is a whopping $20 million plus consider about 10% of this initial cost as the operating expense of the yacht every year.
The Octopus is really a floating 5-star hotel with two choppers on board, pool, basketball court, a theater, a submarine that can accommodate 10 people, and a dock for jet-skis. It takes a crew of 60 to make sure everything goes on smoothly.
