Most know Bill Gates as Microsoft’s co-founder and one of the world’s leading philanthropists, but did you know that he’s also one of the world’s leading luxury hoteliers?
In the most recent news behind Gates’ hotel investments, travel industry site Skift reports via Bloomberg that his Cascade Investment has purchased about 1.74 million shares of Chicago-based Strategic Hotels & Resorts, upping its stake to 9.8 percent.
The purchase indicates that Cascade is interested in more than just shares. “After recent press reports of a potential sale, Cascade has decided to approach the hotel company about exploring alternatives, ‘including the possibility of the reporting persons being a party to a transaction involving the acquisition of the issuer,’ “ Bloomberg reports.
If Gates’ Cascade acquires Strategic Hotels, it will include properties like the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay (just south of San Fran), Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, Calif., and the Essex House in New York City. According to Strategic Hotels site, the company’s property portfolio includes 18 high-end hotels and resorts, and operates “under the world’s most admired hotel brands,” including Fairmont, Four Seasons, InterContinental and more.
This is far from Gates’ first foray into the luxury hotel world. As the Wall St. Journal reported here in this fascinating look at Cascade Investment’s business manager Michael Larson — and how he invests to support and grow the Gates’ portfolio — last September, “Mr. Gates owns nearly half of the Four Seasons Holding Inc. luxury-hotel chain through Cascade.”
We reported on one such Four Seasons property in 2013. Gates’ Cascade picked up the Four Seasons Punta Mita for a “cool $200 million.”
