William Gates III

The richest man in America seeks waterfront views all over the world. This summer, Bill Gates, with his wife Melinda, cruised along the Dalmatian Coast on a luxury yacht, so large, in fact, that Gates needed a second speedboat to reach local ports. The pair docked to see waterfalls on the Croatian island Krk and to sightsee at Skradin, an ancient mainland village. When the globetrotting Microsoft co-founder wants to trade in the lake views of his Medina, Wash., home for warmer Caribbean waters, Gates jets down to Guanacaste, Costa Rica, and relaxes at the Four Seasons Hotel (in which he happens to own $1.9 billion shares). Or for an even more private escape, he has been known to visit Le Taha'a Private Island Resort & Spa, a French Polynesian paradise where Gates stays in an over-water bungalow that not only has expansive Pacific views but includes viewing panels in the floor boards for a total ocean-hideaway experience. Gates isn’t all about tropical hotspots: he’s also a member of the Yellowstone Club, a private 13,6000-acre ski getaway in the Montana Rockies with a $300,000 membership fee.