http://www.menintouch.com/blog/homes-of-the-billionaires/

When you have it all, you need a place to put it all.
Multimillion-dollar yachts need to be docked. The de Koonings have to be hung. And you’ve got to park the Rolls somewhere.
Some billionaires, however, choose to live “the lifestyle”.

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Alsaud of Saudi Arabia has a 317-room palace in Riyadh, which reportedly cost $130 million to build. Totaling 400,000 square feet, it has a soccer field, eight elevators and more than 500 television sets. Then again, he has $23.7 billion in riches, including a longtime 3.9% stake in Citigroup. In England, Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who is the world’s third-richest man, set a worldwide price record for a single-family home last year when he spent $128 million for his London townhouse. His palatial estate is rumored to have a gem encrusted swimming pool as one of its amenities.

In the U.S., politics and billionaires seem to go together. If you want to pack some real political punch, for example, you’d best be prepared to host some high-profile fundraisers. David Geffen, for example, raised funds for Bill Clinton and Al Gore with events at his Beverly Hills estate. Not to be outdone, The GOP also has plenty of friendly fundraisers with big houses. In 2003, President George W. Bush visited cellular phone magnate Craig McCaw and collected campaign money from deep-pocketed donors.
So what do billionaire’s look for in a luxury agent when they are buying or selling these properties? According to Laurie Moore-Moore, Founder and President of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, “Discretion is key to these clients. Even though they are well known and their names frequently appear in the press, when it comes to private financial dealings they look for an agent who will be discreet and keep the details of the transaction confidential.” Moore-Moore adds that “these clients are also accustomed to money, power, and fame, so an agent must not be (or at least not act) intimidated by these things. An agent who is overawed by the client is not going to be able to perform at the peak levels that these ultra rich buyers and sellers expect.”
That’s where the billionaire’s house comes in.
There’s plenty of room for David Geffen’s Pollocks and Rothkos along the walls of his 100-room Beverly Hills, Calif., mansion. Paul Allen can dock his 416-foot yacht–the Octopus–beside his Mercer Island, Wash., waterfront property. And there’s plenty of space for Warren Buffett’s Cadillac DTS in the driveway of his Omaha, Neb., home.
In most cases, a 6,000-square-foot home like Buffett’s would be considered a mansion, but among the members of the billionaire fraternity it’s one of the smallest places on the block.

Massive Manses

Bill Gates’ Medina, Wash., home checks in at 66,000 square feet, including a 1,000-square-foot dining room.
At 33,000 square feet, Michael Dell’s Austin, Texas, pad , not far from the University of Texas dorm room in which the tech giant started his company, is a bit more modest.
And while Donald Trump may be better known for the $125 million Palm Beach, Fla., property he has on the market, his 62,000-square-foot Mar-A-Lago estate is none too shabby. It has a 20,000-square-foot ballroom.
Perhaps most mind-numbing of all is Baron Capital Management founder Ron Baron’s record-breaking buy this year. In May, Baron paid Adelaide de Menil Carpenter, an heiress to the Schlumberger oil fortune, $103 million for a 40-acre property in East Hampton, N.Y., shattering the previous residential record held by Ron Perelman, who sold a Palm Beach estate for $70 million in 2004.

Behind The Deals

There are two unique ways in which billionaires facilitate a home buy.
One is to simply ask for it. That’s what financier Henry Kravis did last year when he made an unsolicited $50 million offer for a 15,255-square-foot Palm Beach property, which the owner readily accepted.
Likewise, billionaire sellers have found that an under-the-radar arrangement has its advantages. Proposing offers or piquing interest amongst friends can be a lucrative strategy.
“Some billionaires aren’t certain they want to sell,” says Dolly Lenz, a broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman. “So they’ll float a deal where they tell their friends that if they could get X for their property, they would sell it.”
In the case of high-profile properties–like the Harkness Mansion that financier J. Christopher Flowers bought in 2006 for $53 million, or the Duke-Semans mansion that real estate mogul Tamir Sapir acquired last year for $40 million–word is sent out that the owners are interested in selling. Prospective buyers will then peruse the property six to nine months before it is formally listed. After all, it’s never good for a prestigious home to sit on the market too long, as has been the case with the $70 million Pierre Hotel penthouse that has been on the market since 2004.
Three years may be a long time, but with the summer over and prime billionaire buying season upon us, that penthouse may soon find a buyer. That’s because unlike the ordinary housing market, which spikes in the spring and ebbs in the fall and winter, trophy properties usually come off the market toward the end of the year.
“Activity takes off in December and January for trophy properties,” says Jonathan Miller, president of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel. “This is when the bonus money is announced and starts percolating through Wall Street.”

In Pictures

Bill Gates

Medina, Wash.
Net Worth: $59 billion
Despite phasing out of his day job to focus on his philanthropic foundation, Gates remains true to his roots in Washington, where Microsoft is headquartered and where he lives with wife, Melinda. His 66,000-square-foot home is built into a hillside on the edge of Lake Washington, near Seattle. It includes a 60-foot swimming pool with an underwater music system, a domed library with two “secret” bookcase doors and a 1,000-square-foot dining room.

Warren Buffett

Omaha, Neb.
Net Worth: $52 billion
At the rate Buffett is giving away his money, it won’t be long before his net worth matches the value of his home, a 6,000-square-foot gray stucco house he bought in 1958 for $31,500. Though he may live frugally, Buffett does maintain a security detail for the modest property, which proved invaluable in quashing a September break-in attempt. In 2004, Buffett sold one of his two Laguna Beach, Calif., properties; the one he kept is valued at about $4 million.

Michael Dell

Austin, Texas
Net Worth: $17.2 billion
Dell’s 33,000-square-foot mega-mansion is perched on a hilltop in the college town where he founded his eponymous computer company. The property has views of the surrounding hills and of the Austin skyline, as well as Dell’s dorm at the University of Texas. Though he reportedly spent tens of millions of dollars building the estate, in the late 1990s he wrangled with local assessors over its value, which was finally pegged at $12 million.

Donald Trump

Palm Beach, Fla.
Net Worth: $3 billion
The Mar-A-Lago estate, which Trump bought in 1985, may not have 475 feet of ocean frontage like Trump’s $125 million Maison de l’Amitié. Still, it isn’t too shabby. The 62,000-square-foot main house boasts 58 bedrooms and 33 bathrooms. South Florida weather is usually pretty warm, but in case it gets cold, the property has 12 fireplaces.

David Koch

New York, N.Y.
Net Worth: $17 billion
In 2004, Koch was said to have bid $17 million for an 18-room duplex in 740 Park Ave., one of Manhattan’s most exclusive buildings. He’s since spent millions more on extensive renovations. He’s in good company: The 17-story building is also home to George David, head of United Technologies, who paid $25 million for his place in 2004, and financier Steven Schwarzman, who bought part of John D. Rockefeller’s old apartment.

Michael Bloomberg

New York, N.Y.
Net Worth: $11.5 billion
Gracie Mansion, New York’s mayoral residence, is one of New York’s finest properties. But billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg prefers his own luxurious digs. Built in 1889, this 7,500-square-foot townhouse (center, left) on East 79th Street is steps from Central Park and boasts five floors. In 1986 it set Bloomberg back $3.5 million. Hizzoner also owns properties in Bermuda; London; Vail, Colo.; and North Salem, N.Y.

Ron Perelman

East Hampton, N.Y.
Net Worth: $10 billion
In a summer home enclave filled with remarkable residences, Revlon boss Ron Perelman has a particularly notable one. Perelman bought the 57-acre estate, called “The Creeks” and set on Georgica Pond, in 1990 for $12.5 million. While that seemed high at the time, we estimate that if he were to sell today, the land alone would command $70 million, the same price he got for his Palm Beach, Fla., house in 2004.

Larry Ellison

Malibu, Calif.
Net Worth: $26 billion
The Oracle chief must like California’s weather; his properties dot the coastline from San Francisco to Malibu. Ellison bought this So-Cal pad for $20 million in 2005 from music producer David Foster. The tennis court and pool are impressive on their own, but what makes them particularly noteworthy is that they are connected to the main house by a cable car that descends a fixed track to the lower level of the terraced property.

Source forbes usatoday overseaspropertymall

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