Calling all Facebook stock owners: This luxurious mansion in Los Gatos, Calif. could be yours. All you have to do is hand over $29 million in Facebook stock to homeowner Ken Raasch.
Silicon Valley businessman Ken Raasch and his wife Linda want to trade their lavish 11.5-acre estate, dubbed Forrester, for a chunk of Facebook shares. The house was built in 1989 and Raasch purchased it in 1997. The 10,000-square-foot house has six bedrooms, five baths and a separate cottage.
A virtual tour on ForresterEstate.com (and above) showcases its cream-of-the-crop details: A fresco on the ceiling of the mansion was created by the same artist who restored the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; a pink marble fireplace mantle imported from Italy; a grand staircase with an intricately carved wood banister.
It’s not clear why Raasch thinks it would be a wise deal for a Facebook shareholder to trade $29 million in pre-IPO stock for a mansion valued at $4.7 million in 2011, according to the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. Since nothing in the stock market is a sure bet, perhaps Raasch suspects someone holding Facebook shares might be willing to take a chance to unload a potentially explosive stock for a chance to own a home — and a grand one at that. Mashable called Raasch and his real-estate representatives for comments and are waiting for a response.
The San Jose Mercury reports Raasch was once the partner of artist Thomas Kinkade and left in 2000 to start his own company called Creative Brands Group.
Rumors of Facebook’s IPO swirled last year and led up to an official announcement of the Facebook stock offering on Feb. 1. As many as 1,000 Facebook employees who were given pre-IPO stock options stand to be millionaires many times over. The Facebook stock is still private, and since its Feb. 1 announcement there have been hundreds of articles about how the stock could affect shareholders, the economy or be simply irrelevant.
What do you think about Raasch’s offer? Sound off in the comments.
Source: Mashable
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