Two men buy Caribbean island to start ‘own country’

Gareth Johnson and Marshall Mayer, co-founders of Let’s Buy An Island, a project that began in 2018 are setting an example for those who want to buy their own island. They want to develop the area for tourism, share the profits and allow everyone to live their own ‘private island fantasy’.

Owning a full island is a dream of rich people but now this dream can also part of anybody, after starting the project to buy an island in 2018  by Gareth Johnson and Marshall Mayer, co-founders of Let’s Buy An Island. The idea of owning your own island is a remote fantasy for most of us. It’s a privileged concept that is mostly associated with the rich and famous. However, two men have just shown the world that such fantasies of paradise can become real with some planning and clever decision-making.

In just a year’s time, their aspirations turned into reality, as they raised over $250,000 (Rs 2.5 crore) and managed to complete the purchase of Coffe Caye, an uninhabited island off the coast of Belize. They have the aim to establish the island for tourists around the world and share the profit among all to promote the island.

“Who hasn’t dreamed of making their own country? Particularly in a post-Trump, post-Brexit, Covid world. If a bunch of regular people can make this work, perhaps it can be a force for good,” Johnson said. “One of our FAQs is what are we going to do once we buy an island? Well, our aim is to deliver a return on investment for our shareholders. What we do with the island will depend on its price, size and location. We are working at business models for all of our final short list locations which range from glamping retreats to eco havens, such as the one pictured,” a message from the Let’s Buy An Island’s official account on Instagram 

“We are as close to a nation as you can get, without getting an army and a navy,” Johnson said.

Johnson (co-founded a company) asked pioneer tours having experience in top destinations like North Korea and Syria and unrecognized states such as Transnistria, Abkhazia, and Nagorno-Karabakh, produced idea about 15 years ago to own domain name letsbuyanisland.com and then triggered to gather funds country wise.

Mayer added, “When Gareth first put the idea to me, I thought God no, this will never become a reality. But he began to explain how much an island might cost, and we realized that actually, there are parts of the world where buying an island was much more realistic than I’d ever thought possible, especially if we clubbed our funds together.” Share of the island started from 3250 $ and peoples can buy as per their wish but every individual has right to put one vote in decision making. Still, they are successful to sell 100 shares with investors from 25 countries and their massive achievements. 

“People really bought into the concept. It was a crazy leap of faith to take, but our initial goal of buying an island, we’ve done it. But the next phase, where we go to next, we never had any plans because we didn’t know we’d make it this far,” Mayer added.