Bill Gates Firm Is Now Controlling Stakeholder in Four Seasons Hotels


Skift Take

This is good news for those who like what Bill Gates as a partial owner has done to help Four Seasons grow in recent years. But there is still a lot of uncertainty around when the market will be back to the kind of conditions that help put heads in beds in one of these glitzy hotels.

An affiliate of Cascade Investment, the investment group controlled by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, plans boost its investment to a majority ownership stake in Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts for more than $2 billion. The deal, slated to close early next year, boosts Cascade’s holding from 47.5 percent to 71.25 percent. Cascade plans to buy the stake from Saudi billionaire Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company in an all-cash deal valuing Four Seasons at $10 billion. "The unwavering support