Most Americans have never heard of the über-private Yellowstone Club, an ultra-wealthy enclave where Jack and a few hundred families are members. Located about fifty miles northwest of Teton County, it is not hyperbole to say that it is perhaps the most exclusive private club in the world. Owning an entire mountain to itself, larger than most ski resorts in the United States, it is the only entirely private ski and golf resort on the globe, and it counts some of the richest in the world as its members. Among these are billionaires like Bill Gates and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt; top executives of corporations like Citigroup, Comcast, News Corp., and Apple; politicians like Dan Quayle and Jack Kemp; sports stars like Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady, and Greg LeMond; A-list entertainers like Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck; and many other titans of the pharmaceutical and finance industries.

The club opened in 1997, right in the midst of the massive increase in wealth that flooded this region, detailed in chapter 1. The club filled a growing niche, aiming to attract the wealthiest of the wealthy, the elite of the elite. Optimism was high. So much so, for example, that several years ago the club set out to build and sell the most expensive home in the world, a $155 million, 53,000-square-foot mansion made of stone and wood that included its own indoor ski-lift and ice rink. According to billionaire founder of the club, Tim Blixseth, “You can’t believe the number of people interested in this [house].… And the guys who are calling aren’t going to have to borrow any money.” Average single-family homes in the club cost much less, hovering between $10 and $18 million. All come with the advertised promise of “security and open space, luxury and wilderness.”