NEW YORK - The sprawling Neverland ranch in California once owned by the late pop star Michael Jackson is for sale for $100 million, Sotheby's International Realty said on Saturday. The 2,700 acre estate in Los Olivos, which once featured a zoo and amusement park where Jackson entertained children, has been renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch. It is being sold jointly by Sotheby's and Hilton & Hyland. “It officially went on the market this morning,” Suzanne Perkins of Sotheby's said. Jackson, who died from an overdose of the anesthetic propofol at age of 50 in 2009, had purchased the property in 1987 for $19.5 million. After financial troubles, in 2008 he handed over the title to the ranch to investment firm Colony Capital LLC, which held his $23 million loan on the property. “We hope and trust that any new owners of Neverland will respect the historical importance and special nature of this wonderful property. Michael's memory lives on in the hearts of his fans worldwide,” the singer's estate said in a statement. - Reuters
