Michael Jackson: Former friend to di late musician buy Neverland Ranch for $22m
Billionaire and former friend to late Michael Jackson, Ron Burkle don buy di ogbonge musician Neverland house for shikini money.
According to oga Burkle tok-tok pesin wey quote Wall Street journal report and three pipo wey sabi about di deal, im say e buy di estate for $22m. Di price wey dem put for di 2,700-acre (1,100 hectare) compound wey dey Los Olivos, California for 2015 na $100m. Since then Neverland, north of Santa Barbara city, bin dey on and off di market, then last year, di price dey for $31m. Di musician bin pay $19.5m for Neverland, which e name afta one fictional island where children no dey grow up for ‎JM Barrie Peter Pan story. Di Thriller singer buy Neverland for 1987, and na there im live wen e gather popularity. He turn di ranch into entertainment complex, he build zoo and fairground on site, where im regularly dey jolly wit children and dia families. For 1990s and 2000s, Neverland become di centre of various investigations into accuse of child sexual assault against Micheal Jackson. Jackson deny di allegations by Santa Barbara prosecutors wey say im dey use Neverland as a fantasy world to groom young boys. For 2005, Jackson bin go court and court tok say e dey innocent of di accuse say im abuse one 13-year-old boy for di ranch. Sake of dos accuse, Jackson no go back Neverland again. Four years later, for June 2009, Jackson die for im house for Los Angeles afta e suffer cardiac arrest sake of drug overdose. Since im death, many pipo still don accuse Jackson of more abuse allegations, including di ones wey dey inside documentary dem call Leaving Neverland for 2019. Neverland don dey rebranded as Sycamore Valley Ranch and don undergo extensive redevelopment since Jackson die. Oga Burkle tok-tok pesin say di businessman see di investment as better opportunity. Im notice di estate wen e dey find another location and contact Tom Barrack, di founder of real-estate investment company Colony Capital LLC, and dem seal di deal. 68 year old Burkle na co-founder and managing partner of Yucaipa Companies, LLC, one private investment firm. Im net worth as at 24 December 2020 dey estimated to be $1.4bn, according to one profile by American business magazine Forbes.