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Château de Pommard sold to tech tycoon
Château de Pommard in Burgundy has been sold to Silicon Valley entrepreneur Michael Baum for an undisclosed sum.
Baum, the chief executive of Silicon Valley-based investor in student entrepreneurs Founder.org, acquired the 18th century estate from property magnate Maurice Giraud.
In addition to Founder.org, Baum is also the CEO and founder of San Francisco-based software producer Splunk.
As part of the sale, Baum acquired 20 hectares of land belonging to the château in the Pommard appellation of Burgundy.
Giraud, who is due to stay on at the estate for the next three months, has spent the last decade renovating the property, which is open to tourists.
The management team, steered by Cecile Lepers-Jobard and Emmanuel Sala, will be kept on at the château.
Built in 1726 by a Paris lawyer and secretary to King Louis XV, the second château building was constructed in 1802.
The estate’s grand vin is made from a blend from the five main plots that make up the clos.
Each plot is hand harvested and the five cuvées are individually vinified then aged in oak for up to 22 months before blending and bottling. The wine that isn’t used in the final blend goes into the estate’s second wine.
It’s better that Splunk should buy Pommard than to find Pommard selling Splunk.