Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch was bought to the co-owner of Pittsburgh Penguins, Ron Burkle

The property, formerly known as Neverland Ranch and the home of the late Michael Jackson, was bought by Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle, Burkle’s spokesman confirmed to CNN Saturday.

Spokesman Frank Quintero didn’t confirm the purchase price, but the Wall Street Journal reported that it was $ 22 million.

Burkle is also a co-founder of Yucaipa Companies, an investment firm.

Neverland Ranch – named after the fictional “Neverland” in the story of Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up – was bought by Jackson in 1987 for $ 19.5 million.

The 2,700-acre property once contained 22 buildings, including an amusement house and a zoo that housed elephants, a giraffe, orangutans, and Jackson’s chimpanzee bladders.

Jackson died in 2009 from what the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner described as “acute propofol poisoning.” His doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter related to Jackson’s death, served less than two years in prison.

The price keeps falling

In 2014 the property was offered for sale for USD 100 million. It was reportedly withdrawn from the market in 2017 after failing to find a buyer after falling to $ 67 million in price, and relaunched for $ 31 million in 2019.

The property, now known as Sycamore Valley Ranch, was jointly owned by Jackson’s estate and a fund managed by real estate investment trust Colony Capital.

At the time, Agent Kyle Forsyth shared the listing with Suzanne Perkins.

He said the property, which includes the nearly 12,000-square-foot main house where Jackson lived for 15 years, was banned from the market due to wildfires and mudslides in nearby Santa Barbara, California.

“Everyone has generally retired for about a year,” Forsyth said in 2019.

Forsyth told CNN on Saturday that he was no longer affiliated with Colony Capital or the ranch listing.

CNN reached Perkins but haven’t heard from it.