LOS ANGELES -- In recent years, millions of Americans looked at their houses and saw big, fat piggy banks. And it occurred to them to take out big, fat new mortgages.
Few did it on the scale of Ronald Burkle.
The Green Acres Estate
Mr. Burkle, the grocery-store billionaire, has $56 million in loans against two houses, including $9 million added last year. One is his iconic Beverly Hills mansion, "Green Acres," a 44-room Italian Renaissance palazzo built in the 1920s by silent-film star Harold Lloyd that more recently was a favorite overnight rest stop for Mr. Burkle's buddy, Bill Clinton.
Mr. Burkle declined to say how he is using the money. There is no indication he needs it to pay the water bill.
Traditionally, the super-rich didn't really bother with mortgages. Home loans were for people who carry lunch buckets, not captains of industry.
That changed in the boom years -- and it is still going on. Recent big-time home borrowers include fashion entrepreneurs, hedge-fund titans and baseball-team magnates.
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OK, Mark Dice is a condescending airhead - but that was great.
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