World's Hottest Billionaire Playgrounds

Basil's Bar & Restaurant is a wooden shack of a beach bar located on the remote Caribbean island of Mustique. But despite its understated look, a night out at Basil's could bring you face to face with Tommy Hilfiger, Mick Jagger, Denzel Washington or even Queen Elizabeth.

"Here, they get to let their hair down and be normal people," says owner Basil Charles. "Bill Gates was sitting at the end of my bar reading a book one morning--I had no idea who this man was."

This 30-year-old establishment is one of the liveliest--and one of the only--bars on Mustique.

Nicknamed "Billionaires Island," the 1,400-acre Mustique is so exclusive, there's only one hotel--the 17-room Cotton House Hotel. Most wealthy visitors rent one of 100 private villas, which run as much as $150,000 a week. Staffed with private chefs, butlers and maids, these full-service, two- to nine-bedroom residences give the mega-rich the opportunity to stay in what are essentially their own private hotels.

Mustique is one of a handful of exclusive and exotic hot spots billionaires go to relax and blow off steam. Whether they crave pristine beaches, rugged mountains or just a ridiculous resort in the middle of nowhere, billionaires have the megabucks to lap up luxury anywhere they desire.

In Pictures: World's Hottest Billionaire Playgrounds

And if they want a destination with a little more glamour and action than remote Mustique, they jet to the French port town of St. Tropez to show off their hard-earned assets.

The French Rivera's most popular summertime spot offers one of the most glamorous ports in the Mediterranean, where owners of some of the world's largest yachts drop anchor to raise their glasses in the town's bustling bars, restaurants and nightclubs.

In Pictures: The Soccer Billionaires

When reclusive billionaire Mike Ashley bought struggling British soccer club Newcastle United in the summer of 2007, the team's fans hailed their new owner and his deep pockets as potential saviors.

Not anymore. Through Nov. 11, Newcastle is in 18th place in the standings, a spot which puts them in danger of relegation to a lower league. Club fans, called the Toon Army, are also furious with ownership because of the resignation of beloved manager Kevin Keegan.

Ashley, who had become a fixture in Newcastle's stands, is ready to return to the lifestyle that earned him the nickname of Britain's Howard Hughes. He says he can't take his kids to a game any longer out of fear they will be assaulted. After purchasing the club just over a year ago, he's looking to sell. "You want me out," says Ashley. "That is what I am now trying to do."

British papers have been thick with chatter of who could bid on the 116-year-old club. In those tabloids at least, Philip Anschutz emerged as a frontrunner this weekend. He's a Denver entertainment entrepreneur who ranked 36th on our Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, and he already owns three other soccer teams.

Anschutz's sports holding company AEG (other-otc: AEGXY.PK - news - people ) denies any interest in the club, but don't be surprised if another billionaire might become the next Newcastle owner. The owner's box at soccer stadiums has transformed into a billionaire's club over the past decade.

Many of the men at the top of our rich lists have a pro soccer team on their long list of assets. Indian magnate Lakshmi Mittal and racing tycoon Bernie Ecclestone have a stake in the London's Queen's Park Rangers.

Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) co-founder Paul Allen is part owner of the new American Major League Soccer franchise Seattle Sounders. Luxury goods maven Francois Pinault doesn't just root for his favorite French side Stade Rennais; he also owns them.

The same kind of "deleveraging" that crippled credit markets also is slamming billionaires, chief executives, and other well-heeled investors where it hurts. After borrowing to buy stock, an unprecedented number of executives are being forced to sell off their holdings at steep discounts.

So far in October, almost $1.24 billion in stock has been sold by CEOs and other executives to cover debts, according to Ben Silverman, director of research at InsiderScore.com, which monitors SEC filings. Another $250 million in stock sales may also be related to so-called margin calls—when lenders force the sale of stock to cover debts.

Adding insult to injury, these stocks are being unloaded at what may be the worst possible time—when a typical equity has lost more than a third of its value this year.

The point was driven home on Tuesday, Oct. 21, when billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. disclosed it sold off 7.3 million shares in Ford Motor (F) and may sell the rest of its stake in the automaker. Originally valued at almost $1 billion, Kerkorian's stake has lost more than two-thirds of its value as Ford's stock price has plummeted. It closed Tuesday at 2.17 a share, down 7% for the day. Though the exact reasons for Kerkorian's sale aren't clear, he had borrowed $600 million to buy the Ford stake and recently needed to use casino holdings to back that debt.

Kerkorian Has Plenty of Company

All in all, it's been a bad month for billionaires.

First Sumner Redstone, chairman of Viacom (VIAB) and CBS (CBS), sold $233 million in stock to help cover a loan. Then John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media (LCAPA), sold $49.5 million in stock to pay back a loan to Bank of America (BAC).

Chesapeake Energy (CHK) Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon may be the worst hit by this sort of stock squeeze. As Chesapeake's stock surged higher, the firm's enthusiastic founder borrowed to buy more and more shares. That worked until the middle of 2008: Since the beginning of July, Chesapeake shares have slid almost 65%. From Oct. 8-10, McClendon was forced to unload $569 million in his company's stock, or 94% of his stake in the firm, to cover those debts.

"The CEOs have been dreadfully surprised—just like the rest of the world," says Rawley Thomas of the Financial Management Association, an organization of financial professionals and academics.