This week came the shocking announcement that Bill Gates has purchased the Hotel Danielithe oldest hotel of the Venetian lagoon, via his Four Seasons Hotels Limited.
In actual fact, Four Seasons does not directly acquire accommodation properties, but manages them on behalf of third party investors. Details are scant, but it appears the property may have been purchased by US investment fund, King Street Capital Management, which provided the financing for the purchase. Of further concern is the announcement of a complete refurbishment of the historic hotel, with King Street, once again, reputably providing a further €30 million funding. However, it must be noted the Hotel Danieli is still listed as a Marriott Group property, so it may be that Mr. Gate's Four Seasons “purchase” of the Danieli is the acquisition of its management rights only.
One thing is certian,
assets such as the Hotel Danieli must return to being Venetian. It is not for the Venetian Republic's
prized-assets to be bargained-off to the world's multi-billionaires to
speculate on and further enrich themselves with, holding such assets in
tax-avoiding structures, while the sons and daughters of the Republic are
indentured servants to these modern day pharaohs. Only a corrupt and morally-bankrupt
government that hates its citizens and territory would allow such things. Assets like the “Danieli” must be kept in
Venetian hands to create wealth for current and future generations, providing a
patrimony for Venetians in perpetuity.
In my previous article entitled “A General Outline of the Economy of the Repubblica Veneta” (https://www.repubblicaveneta.net/en_GB/magtistratura-dell-economia), at point “(19) Pensioni” I speak about a private pension scheme for all Venetian workers. An asset like the Hotel Danieli could be acquired by the pension fund as part of it's overall investment mix, and managed on behalf of contributors to the pension fund, the Venetian people, with all profits returned to the pension fund. A professionally competent manager would be appointed to manage the hotel, with a percentage of annual profits, say 5% to 10%, to return to management and staff as an end-of-year bonus, to encourage them to work hard and continually improve the business, because they benefit directly and financially from the good management and running of the hotel.
In this way, the asset remains in private hands (among contributors to the pension fund), but still in the hands of the Venetian people, with all the benefits of this asset accruing to the Venetian people. In effect, we're talking about a quasi-state owned activity, in that it remains in the hands of the Venetian people, but without the interference of the state, while still being exposed to market forces and being professionally managed as a private enterprise. This is a model that can be developed throughout the Venetian Republic and replicated for strategic infrastructure assets such as airports, electricity, water, communications, major tourist infrastructure, etc.
Riccardo Zanetti
