The World's Most Expensive Home?

At $300M, a mere bauble for a Saudi prince...

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, heir to the Saudi throne.

When the Chateau Louis XIV sold for over $300 million two years ago, Fortune magazine called it “the world’s most expensive home,” and Town & Country swooned over its gold-leafed fountain, marble statues and hedged labyrinth set in a 57-acre landscaped park. But for all the lavish details, one fact was missing: the identity of the buyer, Nicholas Kulish and Michael Forsythe report on nytimes.com.

Now, it turns out that the paper trail leads to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, heir to the Saudi throne and the driving force behind a series of bold policies transforming Saudi Arabia and shaking up the Middle East, they wrote.

The 2015 purchase appears to be one of several extravagant acquisitions — including a $500 million yacht and a $450 million Leonardo da Vinci painting — by a prince who is leading a sweeping crackdown on corruption and self-enrichment by the Saudi elite and preaching fiscal austerity at home, they added.

For more about life in another world:  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/world/middleeast/saudi-prince-chateau.html

Chateau Louis XIV set in a 57-acre landscaped park.

For more on the chateau:

-- Fortune: The World's Home Expensive Home: http://fortune.com/2015/12/15/worlds-most-expensive-home/

-- Town & Country: This French Chateau Is the World's Most Expensive Home: http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/news/a4579/worlds-most-expensive-home/

Photos: nytimes.com.

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