Here’s How To Spend 3.75 Billion Dollars – Or Buy the Denver Broncos
It's an interesting time at Dove Valley as the Denver Broncos begin their offseason clearing out lockers and conducting their fourth head coach search in the last seven years. It's going to get even more interesting in the coming weeks and months as the long and winding ownership saga appears to be coming to an end.
In its simplest explanation, when Pat Bowlen put the team under control of the Pat D. Bowlen trust, it was decided that when he passed away, the family and the trustees must agree on a single family member to assume control of the team or the team must be sold. The NFL requires that a single individual has controlling interest of the team, so it cannot simply be split amongst the kids.
The Bowlen family has been unable to agree on a family member to take control of the team, and the Broncos' appointed trustees do not appear to be able to execute their not so subtle plan of installing Brittany Bowlen as controlling owner.
Additionally, a Denver judge recently ruled in favor of the Pat D. Bowlen Trust in a lawsuit by former owner Edgar Kaiser's estate, maintaining they should have a right of first refusal to buy the team. Bowlen made that deal when he bought the Broncos from Kaiser in 1984. Both men have since passed away, and the judge has removed this final hurdle.
Therefore, after all the lawsuits and drama of the last several years, it appears likely the team is on a path headed toward being sold to an entirely brand new owner or ownership group this offseason.
Potential bidders haven't really come into clear view just yet, but given the most recent valuation of the team by Forbes Magazine last August, whoever wants the team is going to have to come up with - at least - a whopping $3.75B. Let me spell that out for clarification: three point seven five billion dollars, with a "B."
The list of people who can come up with that kind of cash is pretty small, and nobody really knows if any of them want to dive into pro sports. It seems more likely that a group of buyers will come together, with a controlling figure head of sorts at the top of the docket (Peyton Manning, anyone?).
But let's say you have an extra $3.75B laying around. Sure, you could buy the Denver Broncos. OR you could buy all of this stuff instead.
Let's start out small with the Most Expensive House in America.
It's called "The One" and it's just recently been listed for an easy $295M. That's an M - as in $295 Million. It's located in Bel Air, perched on a mountain with views of the Pacific Ocean and downtown Los Angeles. TopTenRealEstateDeals.com reports that the home boasts approximately 105,000 square feet, almost twice as big as the White House.
The home boasts five indoor and outdoor pools.
You may have also noticed in the picture above that a moat circles approximately three quarters of the home's exterior. Can't say for sure whether or not the moat qualifies as one of the pools, but the water looks pretty swimmable to me, so I'm going to say it is.
Plenty of room to entertain your friends and family.
Ever wanted your own bowling alley or movie theatre? You're in luck! "The One" has both!
I'm a sucker for boats, so let's add one of the world's largest super yachts to the list.
That distinction belongs to Motor Yacht Eclipse, owned by a Russian billionare and estimated to have cost roughly $1.5B. That's with a "B" again, so we just spent a pretty big chunk of our budget.
M/Y Eclipse comes with its own missile defense system, armor plating, bulletproof windows, two helipads, two swimming pools, 24 bedrooms, a disco hall and its own mini-submarine. My guess is you could go anywhere in the world on this boat and never have to worry about Somali pirates like that Captain Phillips movie.
With this splurge, we're now up to $1.75B spent. Only two billion to go!
Let's buy our own private island near the Bahamas called Spectibilis Island.
In the northern Exuma Cays of the Caribbean, approximately 260 miles from Miami, there's a private island for sale called Spectabilis Island. It's available for a mere $62 Million. Private Islands Online says its 460 acres are ripe for development, with room to build your home or homes, a seaplane ramp plus ample room for your own airstrip. It also boats some of the best deep water access of all the islands in the area, so you can get our new private super yacht in there, no problem.
Even though it's listed at $62 million, let's add another $188 million for development, so $250 million total. That brings our grand, grand total now to $2B spent.
The Broncos are valued at $3.75B. We've bought the most expensive home in America, the second most expensive private yacht in the world and now we've developed our own 460 acre island in the Caribbean and still have $1.75B to go. I'm not sure what else to buy. I'm running out of ideas.
My wife is British, so I'm going to buy her Balmoral Castle as a gift.
Queen Elizabeth II's most favorite summer vacation spot in Aberdeen, Scotland is estimated to be worth $140-$200 million. We all know the real estate market is tricky right now, so to make sure I'm the highest offer, plus the fact I want to make sure the Queen gets fair price, I'll give her $250 million.
We've spent $2.25 Billion. $1.5 Billion to go. I have to be honest, I think I'm out of ideas. Maybe it would just be better to buy the Broncos and be happy living in Colorado.
Here's hoping someone like Peyton Manning or John Elway find some deep pockets who feel the same way!