Yellowstone Club Founder Says He'll Seek Court Sanctions Against Montana
Tim Blixseth, who founded Montana’s pricey and invitation-only Yellowstone Club, says that he will seek court sanctions from the state’s department of revenue, which recently lost a bankruptcy petition filed against the former billionaire.
The petition sought $57 million in alleged unpaid taxes, the Associated Press reports. It would have forced Blixseth to liquefy his assets, but it was dismissed May 11 in the District of Nevada U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Judge Bruce Markell ruled that Blixseth, who lives in Washington, doesn’t have any tangible assets in Nevada, making the state an improper venue.
The state likely filed the most recent case in Nevada, the Associated Press reports, because several years ago Blixseth put most of his assets into a family trust registered there. According to court documents, he now has a net worth of roughly $230 million.
The Yellowstone Club filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2008, and still faces a $40 million civil judgment stemming from the filing. There’s also an outstanding case between Blixseth and the Montana State Tax Appeals Board.
According to the Associated Press, authorities and creditors claim that Blixseth got the money for the private ski and golf club from a 2005 Credit Suisse loan, and the money bankrolled a lavish lifestyle for him.
A Sept. 1 hearing date is set for the motion on sanctions.
“We are going to depose everyone in the food chain that filed this,” Blixseth told the Associated Press. “They took a shot at me and it was a bad-faith bankruptcy filing.”
