susank

News from the Wall Street Journal, today, July 5th. That whole ownership of the club has been awarded to Edra Blixseth, after a greatly contentious lawsuit pitting her against her ex-husband, Tim. Not sure what this means for the Yellowstone Club, OR for the Yellowstone Club World yet, but this news bears some watching. The article is in today's WSJ and is written by Robert Frank.

Kagehitokiri

welcome to the forum susank. always good to see industry people here.

at least ownership has been settled. will be interesting to see what happens. YCW would be competing with everlands (the only other DC that is mainly multi-member properties) now if it restarted.

to read article >
http://news.google.com/news?q=yellow...=1&sa=N&tab=wn

(YCW was not mentioned in the article)

http://www.discoverylandco.com/projects/

vineyarder

fascinating! are you a member?

__________________
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Living in a vacuum sucks!

DC4MS

Free Preview - WSJ.com

Rich-Playground Spat Ends

Ms. Blixseth to Get Yellowstone Control In Divorce Pact

By ROBERT FRANK
July 5, 2008; Page B3

The bitter, yearlong battle over ownership of Yellowstone Club, the Montana playground for the super-rich that counts Bill Gates and Dan Quayle as members, is coming to a close.



Melanie Nashan The Yellowstone Club Edra Blixseth, who started the club with her husband, Tim Blixseth, will take over Mr. Blixseth's 50% ownership stake and become Yellowstone's sole owner. The agreement is part of the Blixseths' divorce settlement, which is expected to be finalized in the next week or so.

The deal caps a costly and public fight over the future of Yellowstone, the elite private golf-and-ski club nestled in the Montana Rockies.

The battle has tarnished the club's reputation and sparked a minirevolt by its members, who were upset by the bad publicity and uncertainty over ownership.

Costly Amusement

Membership at Yellowstone costs an initial $250,000, along with $18,000 in annual dues and millions of dollars to buy or build a home there.

The Blixseths declined to give specifics of the agreement because it is part of their confidential divorce settlement. Because Ms. Blixseth is taking over Mr. Blixseth's stake as part of their division of marital assets, it isn't considered a formal sale.

"I'm confident that with the plan I'm ready to put in place immediately, the club will be thriving in a very short time," Ms. Blixseth said.

Mr. Blixseth declined to comment.

The problems at Yellowstone began after the couple's divorce in late 2006. The divorce was initially amicable and the Blixseths agreed to continue to jointly own and operate the club, which they created together in 2000.


Edra Blixseth Edra Blixseth

When their divorce turned contentious, the couple sought to sell the club and split the proceeds. They reached a preliminary agreement to sell it to Boston-based Crossharbor Capital for more than $500 million.

Crossharbor terminated the deal in March citing problems getting financial information from the club. Crossharbor continues to hold land at the club and Ms. Blixseth said she looks forward to working with the company.

The club also started running out of cash. Mr. Blixseth was delinquent in paying a $20 million legal settlement, stemming from a suit by Greg LeMond, the cycling champion, and three other members over the value of their early ownership stakes. Yellowstone also owed millions to various vendors and employees who hadn't been paid for their work.

Polite Revolution

In April, 125 of the club's 350 members formed a committee to stage a well-mannered uprising. They wrote a letter to the Blixseths saying that negative media coverage had "eroded Members' privacy" and caused some members to consider leaving.

They said that financial problems had led to a halt in construction projects and new members, and that the club needed to address its cash crunch and ownership question or their property values would decline.

Members say they are encouraged by the new ownership plan.

"The members look forward to having clarity in the ownership and having the club out of the public eye and back to the special, private place that our families love," said Chris Wright, a California-based entrepreneur and Yellowstone Club member.

As part of the ownership agreement, Ms. Blixseth will take over all of the club's liabilities, including the money owed from the LeMond case.

She will also invest capital in the club. Ms. Blixseth is in talks to have Discovery Land Co., a high-end real-estate developer, become the professional manager of the club and take an equity stake.

Still, turning around the club won't be easy. New memberships and sales of property at Yellowstone -- which in 2005 was selling for more than $2 million per lot -- have slowed dramatically in recent months. Ms. Blixseth said the club's own troubles, rather than the real-estate market, are largely to blame.

She added that there are more than 30 potential members who were waiting to join until the ownership question was settled.

Write to Robert Frank at robert.frank@wsj.com

susank

Thank so much for putting this article online where everyone can see it. No, I am NOT a member of the Yellowstone Club, but yes, i did know about the ruling of the Judge last week, as i know one of the people closest to the Blixseth family, but was asked not to disclose it. I am certainly glad Robert Frank, author of the excellent book RICHISTAN, broke the story today. I am interested especially in how the Yellowstone club will re-engage their member's trust, and how they will put the YCWorld back in its proper orbit.

Kagehitokiri

FYI if you go through google, you can read the article without subscribing.

its interesting frank didnt discuss the news on his blog.

also BTW, theres a newer book out thats similar to richistan >
Steve Case and Exclusive Resorts - FastCompany.com - February 2008

susank

I think The Middle Class Millionaire is a good book, however I think Richistan is better. Both ask the reader to assess the industry in a relevant socio-economic and cultural perspective.

Kagehitokiri

hmm, i have not picked up middle class millionaire yet, but im familiar with prince's research. it sounded to me like middle class millionaire would be more quantitative than richistan. is that the case?

i definitely enjoyed richistan, but i personally prefer a little more quantitative data.

Yellowstone Club Ownership Cleared - SherpaReport

susank

Quantitative data has its place especially if accompanied by interpretation and inference. However, I like a more macro, developmental view. I am work on an article that places the DC industry in more of a socio-cultural/economic perspective. I wrote The Necessity Of Sanctuary about two years ago -- this new piece will be an adjunct to that.