After years of price cuts, the ranch finally sold to billionaire Ron Burkle in December 2020 for $22 million — a fraction of its original $100 million asking price, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Burkle, who advised the singer on financial matters in the mid-2000s, saw the property as an investment opportunity, per the Journal. While the ranch wasn't publicly listed for months, Burkle reportedly saw the property from the air and called the owner directly to ask if he would sell it.
The ranch was last publicly listed for $31 million in 2019 — a nearly 70% discount from its original asking price.
Kyle Forsyth of Compass, one of the former listing agents for the ranch, told Business Insider in February 2020 that the agents representing the ranch had found interested potential buyers. But no deal could be reached with Colony Capital, so the ranch was pulled off the market, Forsyth said.
Colony Capital, the private investment firm that manages the ranch, did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment for this story.
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: CBS News
Jackson famously threw parties and held events at the ranch, including a 14th birthday party for Kim Kardashian, who called the ranch "the most magical place on earth."
He would go on to defend himself against additional lawsuits over the next decade, which contributed to his mounting debt. By 2008, he faced foreclosure on Neverland Ranch.
Source: ABC News
Source: ABC News
Source: ABC News
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Most obvious, of course, is the property's well-publicized connection with Jackson.
"It was priced where it was in the beginning to capture a celebrity trophy buyer, someone that was willing to pay the extra money because it was Michael Jackson's," real estate expert Michael Corbett, the host of Extra's "Mansions and Millionaires," told Yahoo Entertainment. "Unfortunately now, since there's been a lot of negative press, someone is probably not going to purchase it for that reason ... Now someone's going to buy it because it's an amazing piece of real estate."
The property's location could also be unappealing to some buyers. According to Zillow real estate expert Brendon DeSimone, the property sits about 130 miles northeast of Los Angeles and five miles from Los Olivos, which is outside of the majority of the area's highest-end homes.
Priced well above $3 million, Jackson's former ranch sat on the market for more than five years.
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Associated Press
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Source: Sycamore Valley Ranch
Jackson lived on the ranch for more than 15 years.
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