When you’re a politician operating in the kind of stratosphere that Joe Biden is, the connections and wealth accumulated from your personal success can open up a world of opportunities and possessions. One of the largest purchases to vaunt is definitely a private island, is this something that Biden can boast about owning?
Joe Biden does not own a private island, although some sources suggest that his brother does. There are a lot of conflicting reports about Joe Biden owning an island, but none of them appear to be backed up by any solid evidence.
So, if Joe Biden doesn’t actually own an island, why are there suggestions that he does? It would appear to stem from the fact that his brother James either owns an island or has an investment in the property upon one.
Joe Biden’s Brother
Once the rumor mill really gets churning, it can be hard to stop it, especially if you are a high profile individual like Joe Biden. With rumors on the internet, much like the children’s game ‘telephone’, messages and statements can get lost, confused, and mixed up as they continue to be spread around.
In the case of James Biden, what’s the real story? Does he actually own an island?
Perhaps the most important thing to look at before addressing that question is who exactly Joe’s brother is. If you aren’t familiar with the career politician or his family, then you might be confused about who his less renowned brother is and how he came to be in the position to buy an island.
While Joe followed the political pathway to success, James chose to go down the often equally treacherous and difficult road of business. Whether through a combination of personal talents, connections from his politically influential brother, or a mixture of any other number of factors, James found enough success in his chosen career to be able to afford an investment in a tropical paradise.
Does James Actually Own The Island?
So he’s definitely got the money and the pull to make that kind of investment. Even so, apparently, he doesn’t actually own the island, only a small part of it.
The island in question is Water Island, one of the largest slices of paradise on the entirety of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Looking at some of the glowing reviews of the island, it’s no wonder that James wanted to have his own share of the exotic retreat all to himself.
That’s all the ‘ownership’ amounts to, a small share. According to sources, James purchased a single acre of land on the island to enjoy, but even that acre isn’t solely owned by him anymore. He sold a piece of the land to Scott Green, a long-time lobbyist for Joe Biden’s political campaigning.
In total, the deal for the land cost James around $150,000, a fairly large sum, but perhaps not as large as you may have imagined for such an extravagant location. Of course, actually owning an island is a lot more expensive.
What Property Does Joe Biden Own?
Even though he doesn’t own an island, looking at some of the properties that he does own it certainly wouldn’t be out of the question for him to have the means to at least invest in one.
Having a quick look at some of Biden’s homes, he’d be able to more than afford a small pocket of land on an island, maybe even an island all to himself. Although with the beautiful location and quality of the homes, he definitely doesn’t have to stray too far from home soil to find a utopia.
Over the course of his life, he has owned a variety of expensive homes, that despite being bought at their original prices in the hundreds of thousands, eventually grew in value so exponentially that they were reevaluated in the millions.
One of the first examples was the “The Station”, a house that Biden first purchased in 1974, and successfully managed to more than double the price of when he finally sold it. So, he might not own an island, but Biden certainly appears to be more than capable of making shrewd property investments, even if they are slightly less exciting domestic ones!