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From the fabulously rich to the fabulously famous, this remote patch of Montana wilderness has fewer than 900 homeowners, who are worth more than a combined $290 billion.

There are 885 members of the ultraswank Yellowstone Club: 15,000 mountainous acres of world-class skiing, golfing, fly fishing and horseback riding. There is a movie theater for kids, a concert venue that has hosted acts including Sting, Norah Jones and James Taylor, and even “sugar shacks” stocked with all sorts of free stuff like candy bars, snacks and hot soups sprinkled across the mountain and greens. The club’s mountain has 21 chairlifts, one gondola, 2,900 skiable acres—and no lift lines.

Perhaps the club’s biggest draw is exclusivity. Applicants need gold-plated references and must submit to a detailed background check. Membership is capped at 914 to prevent over­crowding. Admission requires buying land, a home or a condo.

Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2024/10/04/inside-the-worlds-most-exclusive-club-yellowstone-definitive-list-mark-zuckerberg-bill-ackman-tom-brady-melinda-gates/

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Transcript
00:00From the fabulously rich to the fabulously famous,
00:03the remote patch of Montana wilderness
00:05known as the Yellowstone Club has fewer than 900 homeowners
00:09who are worth more than a combined $290 billion.
00:14Located about an hour's drive south of Bozeman, Montana
00:18and some 50 miles north of Yellowstone National Park,
00:21the club owns a private mountain and more skiable acres
00:25than Killington, Stowe, or any other resort
00:27on the East Coast.
00:30There's also golfing, fly fishing, horseback riding,
00:34a movie theater for kids, and a concert venue
00:37that has hosted acts including Sting,
00:40Norah Jones, and James Taylor.
00:43Perhaps the club's biggest draw is its exclusivity.
00:47Applicants need gold-plated references
00:49and must submit to a detailed background check.
00:52Membership, now at 885, is capped at 914
00:58to prevent overcrowding.
01:00Admission requires buying land, a home, or a condo.
01:04Even the least expensive undeveloped plot
01:06will set you back $10 million.
01:09Condos start at just under $7 million,
01:11but average $15.5 million.
01:15And homes cost $20 million or more.
01:18Plus, there's $78,000 in annual dues
01:22which cover unlimited skiing and golf
01:25for members and their immediate family,
01:27and 140 guest days.
01:30Almost as difficult as getting in
01:32is figuring out who else belongs.
01:34After combing Montana public records
01:36for more than 300 club properties
01:39and digging through other sources,
01:41Forbes found 19 billionaires, two children of billionaires,
01:45and a handful of A-listers.
01:49When Melinda and Bill Gates divorced in 2021,
01:52she got their now $40 million home.
01:55Also transferred from Bill, 18 acres of land
01:58spread out over four lots nearby.
02:02Ron Burgle is the founder and managing partner
02:05of Los Angeles investment firm, Yucaipa Companies,
02:07and chairman of private club firm, Soho House.
02:11Yucaipa paid $55 million for a roughly one-third stake
02:15in the Yellowstone Club in 2010,
02:17and then sold it in 2021 for about five times that sum.
02:22Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO,
02:24hosts a small annual conference at the Yellowstone Club
02:26during the third weekend in July,
02:28billed as a gathering of the world's smartest
02:30and most interesting people.
02:32Attendees have included Lady Gaga,
02:35journalist, Ronan Farrow, and author, Adam Grant.
02:41Stuart Butterfield, the 51-year-old billionaire
02:43and founder of business messaging app, Slack,
02:46and his wife, Jen Rubio, founder of luggage brand, Away,
02:49bought their home in 2021,
02:51the same year Salesforce bought Slack
02:54for nearly $28 billion.
02:57The home is now worth around $38 million.
03:01Tom Brady, the former star NFL quarterback
03:05and ex-husband of supermodel, Giselle Munchen,
03:08looks to have gotten the couple's home
03:09at the Yellowstone Club as part of their 2022 divorce.
03:14Nick Woodman, the billionaire founder of GoPro,
03:17which makes wearable, sports-focused video cameras,
03:19bought a home at the Yellowstone Club in 2011
03:22and moved there full-time in 2018.
03:25He and his wife, Jill, spearheaded the creation
03:28of Big Sky's community and recreation center
03:31with a $4 million donation.

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