Thursday, August 2, 2012

In Case You Haven't Heard...

photos: Walt Danley Realty

...professional basketball dribbler Jason Kidd of the New York Knicks listed his 13,523 square foot, vaguely Mexican hacienda-style mansion in Paradise Valley, AZ with an asking price of $5,995,000.

photo: Clark Dugger Photography for Bulldog Realtors

...Shabby Chic queen Rachel Ashwell coughed up $930,000 to buy an itty-bitty and already Shabby Sheeked two-bedroom cottage in Venice (CA).

photos: Heidi Krauss

...Super Olympian swimmer Michael Phelps, winner of more medals than any other athlete ever, has reportedly sold his four-floor Baltimore townhouse at a punishing $400,000 loss.

photo: Islands.com

...Formidable octogenarian French multi-billionaire heiress Liliane Bettencourt sold off her private island in the Seychelles for £39,000,000. A quickie consult with our currency conversion contraption shows that comes to 60,973,400 American dollars at today's rates.

Madame Bettencourt—the largest shareholder in cosmetics and beauty juggernaut L'Oreal, founded by her father—has owned D'Arros and a few surrounding islands since the late 1990s when she secretly paid a member of the Iranian royal family (around) $18,000,000 (US) for the tropically picturesque, pill-shaped coconut plantation island (and a few surrounding atolls) that includes a luxurious main residence as well as separate quarters for guests and caretakers.

Iffin any of the children don't know the truly scandalicious story of Madame Bettencourt and her (admitted) tax evading ways, her (alleged) "payments" to French politicians including former president Nicholas Sarkozy, and the 1.3 billion dollars in gifts and insurance policies to much younger man-pal b.f.f. François-Marie Banier—now cut out of Madame's will after a bitter legal intervention by Madame Bettencourt's daughter who argued her elderly mother is not longer competent to handle her own (financial) affairs—then you should. Y'all can read all about Madame's difficulties and dramas in a 2010 article in Vanity Fair.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't tell me Larry Ellison got his claws into Seychelles too!

Anonymous said...

Smart to get out of the Seychelles before the sea closes over them.

Anonymous said...

The ads on this site are out of control! Mama, ya know I love ya, but ya gots to stop whoring yourself out like this.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, using an iPad with the pop up lowes ads are ruining this site for me.

Anonymous said...

The euro is 1.21 today- that makes the price more like 47 million dollars, not 60 million dollars, Mama.
You must use your calculator BEFORE your gin and tonic.

Anonymous said...

"The euro is 1.21 today- that makes the price more like 47 million dollars, not 60 million dollars, Mama.
You must use your calculator BEFORE your gin and tonic."

You must use your eyes! '£' isn't the 'euro' so Mamas calculation is correct giving the GB£ - US$ exchange rate.

Desert Donna said...

Mama delete my comment this AM. I just looked at the photos and this IS his newer home. The back looked like his old place. Duh.

MamasBoy said...

FAHHHHBULEASQUE, DAHHHHLINK!

Nancypa said...

Wow, what did Phelps pay for that townhouse originally? It's a nice view and all, but it is still in Baltimore....