Money Moguls

Gracie Mansion didn’t quite meet the likings of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City’s mayor. After winning office, Michael chose to stay in his own private mansion on 79th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The 1899 townhouse is five stories tall and spreads 7,000 square feet. The current market value is $7.42 million even though townhouses of equal size and location in Manhattan can sell for much more.

Warren Buffet still lives in the same neighborhood where he bought his home in 1958 for $31,500. Warren’s house is still quite large at 6,300 square feet, and the estimated value is now approximately $700,000. He also keeps a second home in Laguna Beach, California and is worth about $4 million.

One of the dot-com billionaires, Mark Cuban owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, isn’t shy about displaying his wealth. Mark sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo! for $5.7 billion in 1999. One of the first things Mark bought was this 24,000 square foot mansion, which cost him between $13 million and $15 million. The home contains a 1,000 square foot living room…perfect for inviting the team over for a casual game of hoop.

Michael Dell’s Austin mansion may be a work in progress, but the computer billionaire reportedly is acquiring property in the Bahamas and Manhattan. His mountain top mansion is 33,000 square feet. The estimated cost to build it was anywhere from $30 million to $60 million. Michael’s mansion became a bone of contention between Dell and city appraisers, who assessed the value at $22.5 million. This left Michale Dell with a property tax bill of more than a $500,000. The dispute was finally settled for $12 million.

Larry Ellison, chief executive of Oracle, loves Japanese architecture…to the tune of an estimated $100 million. Larry’s mansion, a Japanese imperial-style palace, is a exquisite 23-acre property in Woodside, California. Woodside is one of the most expensive areas in the country. The estate includes several ponds, one of which is 2.7 acres, a teahouse and Japanese style gardens.

Estimated to be worth over $50 million, Bill Gates’ entire property, including office facilities, a gym and a library, is more than 66,000 square feet. The estate is not only distinguished by its size but also by its vast array of extravagant features, such as a 60 foot pool with an underwater sound system, a trampoline room, an Art Deco theater, and a reception hall large enough to seat 150 people for dinner or hold 200 people for a cocktail party.