Two investment companies controlled by some of the planet’s richest guys are buying the world’s top luxury hotel chain. Somehow it all seems appropriate since the buyout numbers bandied around are between three and four billion. The Gates here is Microsoft’s Bill Gates and the Bin Talal is a Saudi Prince. As this Bloomburg article states, ” Alwaleed is bidding through Kingdom Hotels International, and Gates will purchase his stake through Cascade Investment LLC.”

So the guy who makes you curse at your computer and one of the people who sometimes makes you curse at your gas pump will own the hotel chain that’s supposed to take all your cares away. Let’s hope it’s a “hands off” ownership arrangement (especially considering a Saudi woman can’t drive to a hotel on her own, much less stay at one by herself.)

One item buried in much of the coverage was this tasty morsel: “Isadore Sharp, Four Seasons’ CEO, will receive $289 million as part of the transaction.” Is that a payoff or what? Isadore Sharp, pictured here, is the founder of the company though, so it’s not quite as obscene as it sounds–he’s been working on this since 1961.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 at 7:43 pm and is filed under Four Seasons, Top hotels. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.