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American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter Mel Gibson has purchased the Mago Island in 2005 for $15 milllion. Mago Island is currently valued at $20 million despite the property remaining undeveloped through the years. World-famous actor Mel Gibson has bought the island soon after his global success for the controversial movie The Passion of the Christ.
With a net worth estimated to be about $425 million, he has a stunning porforlio of real estate properties and luxuries. Among his most expensive purchase is the 400-acre ranch in Costa Rica which he bought for about $26 million and a Tudor-style estate in Connecticut which he has already sold for $40 million years ago. It is not surprising that he has accumulated almost half a billion net worth considering that he is one of the most successful actors and directors in Hollywood.
The Story Of Mago Island
It was in 1860s when the Ryder brothers from Australia have established a cotton plantation in the said Island. About twenty years after the cotton plantation flourished in the island, a well-established sugar cane plantation with a sugar mill was built in 1884. However just after eleven years the mills and the plantation were shut down in 1895 as it was dismantled and used in order to enlarge the Penang Mill in Ra. The Ryders clan soon was succeeded by the Barron family. The Barron family ran a successful copra plantation on the Mago Island for a long time until they donated the massive historic mansion in the Fiji capital city Suva, Barron House, to the Fiji Government.
Through the years, the ownership of the island has transferred from one owner to another until 2005 when Hollywood actor and director Mel Gibson bought the Mago Island from the hands of Tokyu Corporation. Despite the protests of the inhabitants of the Mago Island who were displaced in the 1860s to prevent Gibson to buy the Island, the sale pushed through.
The Setting Of Mago Island
The Mago Island is situated in the northwest sector of the northern Lau Group of Islands of Fiji. It is a volcanic island and among the largest private islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean which is the most pristine island that consists of 22 square kilometers of land. It is located in the 166 statute miles of the ENE of Fiji capital in Suva and is about 23 kilometers southwest of the island Namalata and near the Vanua Balavu. The original descendants of the Mago Island are still residing in the Vanua Balavu.
As of the moment, the Mago Island is still relatively underdeveloped and inhibited by a few caretakers who is of Indo-Fijian descent. The images of the island through the Satellite images which dates back from 2008 shows an airstrip of about 1100 meters. There is currently no port on the island however there is a short stone pier which is located on the north side of the island. The lot area of the island is massive with 5436 acres and about 5.5km by 5.5km in terms of length and width. There is about three small islands located in the southwest of the island and one of which is about 450m by 200m. The said small island looks like a loaf of bread which rised almost immediately from the beautiful beach on the island.
Features And Luxuries Of Mago Island
The upstairs portion island consists of a village, ponds with drinking water and huge area of old original vegetation hills as well as poultry farm that has domestic animals such as horses, cattle, goats and chicken. The downstairs portion of the island consists of a beautiful personal lagoon which is about 1km by 430m. The lagoon is located on the northeast side of the Mago Island and is completely fenced naturally with 70m thick barriers of grown vegetation. The end of the lagoon has a house which is delightfully set on the water along the shores. The said lagoon can be used for fishing and also can be used as a bay. The 5,400 acres of land is covered in a stunning lush of natural vegetation and sugar cane. While most of the celebrity owned islands are already had some drastric makeovers, Mel Gibson sustained the sanctity of the largely undeveloped island and only few caretakers are living there as of the moment.
Sources: SCMP, Tropical Islands, Celebrity Net Worth