Punta Mita: Secret Retreat for the World's Top Tech Billionaires Jim Dobson - Forbes
go to original November 16, 2016

Aerial View of Punta Mita (photo courtesy of Punta Mita Development)

Located on a private peninsula surrounded by white sand beaches, Punta Mita is a spectacular 1,500-acre resort and residential community bordered by the Pacific Ocean, and an easy 40 minute drive north of Puerto Vallarta. Punta Mita is home to some of the world’s most stunning private estates, as well as two Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Courses, Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, and the St. Regis Resort Punta Mita.

I was excited to explore some of the greatest villas and developments that have become vacation homes to the wealthiest extended families, and to a handful of tech billionaires.  This area is so private that even locals aren’t aware of their famous neighbors including executives from Apple, Siebel Systems, Yahoo, Amazon, Qualcom, and British Telecom, as well as one very high profile landowner, and one of the richest men on the planet. In 2014, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, along with his Cascade Investment group, bought 48 acres of beachfront property along with the Four Seasons Hotel site in Punta Mita.

Once a sleepy bohemian surf area with charming small towns, this stretch on the Riviera Nayarit has become one of the most private and secure locations in the world. Before I could even get to my beach villa, we had to pass through multiple security checkpoints and gated roads. Punta Mita was created 15 years ago when the Mexican development company DINE bought property to create a luxury resort with high end hotels and world ranking golf courses. I spoke with Andrés Rossetto, the Managing Director of Punta Mita Development for DINE, and he explained the appeal of the area to buyers from the U.S.

“The very affluent are drawn to Punta Mita because we offer something that can’t be found elsewhere in the world” he said, “A master planned community like Punta Mita would be extremely difficult to duplicate in today´s financial climate, and geographically, Punta Mita is stunningly unique. There is great confidence in the forecast of Mexico’s long term economy and the strength of our country’s relationship within the Americas. Accessibility is another factor. We have an excellent private terminal nearby for our owners who arrive on their own jet or chartered plane.”

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