How one man bought a tropical resort for $49

The tropical island of Kosrae is in Micronesia. (iStock)

An Australian couple who made the bold but brilliant move to build a resort from the ground up on the tropical island of Kosrae in Micronesia 21 years ago is now ready to move back home and be full-time grandparents.

So what to do with their successful business?

Wanting to leave their resort to a regular person—"someone who's just like us"—instead of a millionaire, one of Doug and Sally Beitz's four sons had the bright idea of auctioning off the Kosrae Nautilus Resort in a raffle, reports news.com.au.

Each ticket went for $49 and per the Win the Island Estates site, 75,485 entries were received, ostensibly earning the Beitzes about $3.7 million. On Tuesday night they drew winning ticket number 44,980, which belongs to a "Joshua" from New South Wales, Australia, reports CNN.

"Your life is about to change in a very special way," Doug announced. Indeed. Joshua has just landed a debt-free, 16-room resort with a 4-bedroom manager's residence, 8 business vehicles, a restaurant, a 32-foot pool, a private beach, dive boats, a profitable scuba diving operation, and, just for good measure, $10,000 in the business bank account.

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Mashable reports that Kosrae is home to 6,500 people, and while the 43-square-mile volcanic island is popular with surfers, divers, and paddle boarders, what's on its land is a draw as well.

The island was home to 8,000 Japanese troops during WWII, and while no battles were fought on Kosrae, "there are caves and all sorts of stuff from those days when they used to hide in the mountains" that can be explored, says Doug.

(These stars own their own islands.)

This article originally appeared on Newser: How One Man Bought a Tropical Resort for $49