Out of kindness of my own heart, I never mention the names of the billionaires that have bought property in Argentina. Several months ago, I mentioned that massive farms had exchange hands for millions and millions, and that these were self-sufficient mega mansions owned by some of the richest people in the United States.
Well, this week, Peter Thiel indicated that he was moving to Argentina. It’s unclear this stage if this is a full-time thing or if it’s temporary one. Doesn’t really matter, Mr. Thiel has always been known as a right winger, at the very right of Genghis Khan..
I never spent a great deal of time in Argentina. South America is too complicated and too far away for London base businesses. In addition, most of South America has a love affair with the United States. I’ve only been to Buenos Aires three times in my life, twice for work and once for our holiday, a 25 year marriage anniversary gift to my wife and I. In fact, it has been more than a decade since I set foot in the country. All the information I have about the country, is mostly secondhand and must be taken with a grain of salt.
I have had the pleasure of being in a Hacienda for a long week of negotiation nearly 20 years ago. I remember that the household staff, numbered more than 100, these are people who were directly associated with making the house function as a home. You have to go back to the 19th century to find something similar in America or in Europe. And yet, this is the reality of South America, with the exception of Chile. The Hacienda in which I spent a week, was more than 100,000 Hectares. To give you a sense of how large that is, the main road from the house to the property was 12 km long.
However, if you are a billionaire American and want your peace and quiet without changing your lifestyle, Argentina is perfect.
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