Topline
Venture capital billionaire Tim Draper is soliciting potential buyers for a 110-acre private island in Tanzania he’s owned for two decades and said he’s asking $7.9 million for what he called a “gorgeous place.”
Tim Draper in 2023.
Sportsfile via Getty Images
Key Facts
Draper, a Tesla and SpaceX investor who made a fortune investing in cryptocurrencies, posted to X that he’s selling the island because he doesn’t “use it enough” and asked anyone interested to contact him directly, dropping in an email address at the end of the message.
He told Forbes he’s gotten several offers since his post early Friday afternoon, and that it looks like the property “will be sold quickly.”
Draper said he’s asking $7.9 million for the island on Lake Tanganyika, the world’s second-largest freshwater lake by volume, but would also consider “best offer.”
He bought the property, called Lupita Island, in 2004 and spent four years building 10 cottages, a spa, gym, game room, multiple bars and pool.
Activities on the island include cruising on a 46-foot boat named the Windsor Rose, swimming at a private beach, visiting the remains of an ancient monastery, kayaking, snorkeling, fishing or traveling to mainland Tanzania for a safari, according to its tourism website.
The island has been available to rent during Draper’s ownership, and a stay comes with a private butler and more than 30 staff members to run the property.
Visitors to the island must fly to one of Tanzania’s major airports before taking another flight, either a private jet to Lupita’s private mainland airstrip (and a boat from there) or a commercial flight to the region’s Mpanda Airport, a four hour car ride then a private boat.
FORBES VALUATION
Draper, worth an estimated $2.3 billion, is the third generation in a familial line of venture capitalists and founded his firm, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, in 1985. He’s invested in major companies like Tesla, Skype and Theranos, and made the bulk of his fortune in crypto. He bought 29,656 bitcoins confiscated by U.S. Marshals from the shuttered Silk Road black market in 2014 for $18.7 million, or $632 per coin. Bitcoin now trades at more than $77,000 per coin.
BIG NUMBER
101.4. That’s how many bitcoins it would take to buy Lupita Island at its asking price of $7.9 million.
TANGENT
Several high-profile billionaires have offloaded trophy properties in recent years. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, several years ago said he would offload almost all of his real estate and most of his possessions in response to criticism of his massive wealth. He sold all seven of the residential properties he owned, including a Los Angeles mansion, historic home in the Bay Area of California and four Bel Air properties. He now lives in a tiny box house in Texas that he says he rents from his rocket company, SpaceX. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos last year sold his long-held waterfront estate in the Seattle area for a record-breaking $63 million as part of his relocation to Miami in the more tax-friendly state of Florida.
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