Bill Gates (©2016 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Bill Gates, the world's richest human, gobbles up property like a starving man, and he's been buying land around his ranch in Wellington, FL. His insatiable lust for land is such that the Miami Herald says he won't stop "until he owns the entire street."
The Herald reports that Gates, through the Miami branch of his dad's firm, K&L Gates, has purchased two empty lots in Wellington for $4.97 million, adding to his collection of properties on Mallet Hill Court, an exclusive enclave of ranches and equestrian centers. The software billionaire now owns four of six properties on the court -- totaling 15 acres -- the Herald says.
The Microsoft founder's daughter Jennifer is a 19-year-old who attends Stanford University and rides horses competitively around the world. Her dad has spared no expense to indulge the hobby. Reports say Gates recently bought his eldest child (he and wife Melinda have three) a $1 million Irish show-jumper named Pepperpot. And a few years back, Gates purchased Jenny Craig's horse ranch in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, for $18 million.
Gates devours Wellington land because Jennifer trains and competes in Wellington's Winter Equestrian Festival. The Palm Beach County village, one of the world's top polo destinations, maintains roads with names such as Quarter Horse Trail, where a property is currently listed for $14.5 million.
However, even the richest of rich in Wellington aren't above squabbling over little things. Gates threatened to call the police about a missing horse-themed mailbox on the 5-acre ranch he purchased for $13.5 million next door to his. Entrepreneur Stuart Roffman, the ranch's seller and no pauper himself, took the mailbox with him; and Gates wants it back. The ultra-rich -- they really are just like us!