The Homes of America's Billionaires

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
Sep 23rd 2008 at 9:02AM

As an adjunct to their just-released annual list of the 400 richest Americans, Forbes has included a special report on the homes of some of the billionaires who made the cut. Capping the account is of course Bill Gates, who tops the 400 with his $57 billion fortune. It's hard to say exactly how much his high-tech 66,000-sq.-ft. house on Lake Washington near Seattle is worth. The property 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, the mag notes.

Also featured: the historic seven-story Duke-Semans mansion (above) in Manhattan owned by cab driver-turned-mogul Tamir Sapir (net worth $1.9 billion), who bought it from Doris Duke's relatives for $40 million after a single walk-through. He's now said to be spending $10 million on renovations. And then there's Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison's (net worth $27 billion) 23-acre estate in Woodside, Calif., "reminiscent of a 16th-century imperial Japanese palace" which reportedly cost over $100 million to build. You can see a slideshow of these megamansions and more here.

Tags: Bill Gates, BillGates, Doris Duke, DorisDuke, Forbes, Larry Ellison, LarryEllison, New York, NewYork, Seattle, Tamir Sapir, TamirSapir

Filed under: Estates, Wealth

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dr. Leyland Austrian Sep 25th 2008 3:21PM

That is one hell of a house to live in . A person cound have a hart attack just walking around exploring such a vast fortress. I wont state the specs because it boggles the mind to think of , especially when the country is in the worse shape I have ever experienced in my seven dacades on this lovely planet .

Why dont we get those on that list of billionaires to fork over the money to fix the problem we are now experiencing . I mean i can't really help unless you want my social security or my unemployment check ( yes even at this age I need to work to pay my meds and the other crap that we are getting ripped off every day off )

I'[m quite worried that the ruthless ceos wont get their much robbed bonuses this year at christmas time . Tha tworried me .

I know I will get ............. hmmmm what the fuk witll I get ? Oh yea know I remember STRESS from struggling to make ends meet

The people who drove our country bankrupt are treasonus muddr fkrs and should be hung in a courtyard with CNN broadcasting it

How'd that be . Am I wrong to say that ?

praveen Nov 14th 2008 11:43AM

respected sir,
i am praveen.i am from india.i completed engineering.my dream is to work for USA.but i am not having sufficent money to apply for H1B VISA.i am from poor family.can you help me from this situation....