American billionaire Bill Gates has bought a new property. Together with a business partner, al-Walid ibn Talal, the founder of Microsoft Corporation bought a 17th-century palace in Italy. Entrepreneurs plan to turn the building into a hotel, according to the New York Post.
Palazzo Marini is located in Piazza San Silvestro in the center of Rome, near the famous Trevi Fountain. The object was built in 1650 by the architect Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini and served as a home for several noble families in the following years.
Gates and al-Walid paid $170 million for the palace to be later converted into a six-star Four Seasons hotel. After the completion of the work, about a hundred rooms, a gym, and a SPA zone will appear in the building. Locals hope that the transformation of the Palazzo Marini will attract more tourists to Rome and help the economy – about 410 of the 1.2 thousand hotels in the Italian capital closed during the coronavirus pandemic.
In March, Bill Gates destroyed a house worth tens of millions of dollars. The entrepreneur demolished his home in the California city of San Diego, which he purchased in March 2020 for $43 million. Gates plans to completely rebuild the estate.