You might expect someone who inherited a massive fortune to be more frivolous with their money, you know, like blowing it on fringe sporting leagues, or building surf ponds on hot, dusty Central Californian farm land, but not the backer of a certain privately owned entertainment company specializing in event and online streamed content production (mostly surfing sport). No, Dirk Ziff is a savvy businessman who knows when to call it quits, and that’s exactly what his organization did with their plans for a wave pond in West Palm Beach, Florida recently.
More importantly Ziff is wise enough not to harm the rest of his surf interests by admitting in the press that his wave pond business model is terminally flawed. No, when Mr. Ziff pulls the plug on a project, he does what many businessmen have done before him, he blames the location. Here are the details in a story posted on Florida Today.
“The WSL is disappointed to confirm our decision to cancel the development of the wave basin planned for West Palm Beach, Florida. . . .The nature of this site, including the extremely high water table, exposed unforeseen challenges that made the decision around this unique project clear. These projects are complex and, in many ways, without precedent, and we have learned important lessons in this process.”
Seems the local “water table” would have been the first thing wave pool planners would have investigated, however, often times the majority of the benefit of a project like a wave pool is the press announcement that it will be built, not on building it, or losing money running it. We’re bearish on the Dirk Ziff wave pond model in general. Let us know if they build another one anywhere in the world.
[Link: Florida Today]
