TL;DR
Matthew Prince, Utah's wealthiest resident, has intensified his public criticism of Vail Resorts' management of Park City Mountain Resort. The Cloudflare CEO claims Vail's 10-year stock performance has been dismal and argues the company should sell off individual resorts. Vail says it's not selling.
Local billionaire intensifies public pressure campaign to buy Park City from Vail Resorts
Matthew Prince, the co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare with a net worth around $6.8 billion, has ramped up his campaign to force Vail Resorts to sell Park City Mountain Resort. The Utah resident has spent the past week publicly criticising Vail's management on social media, attempting to crash an investor dinner, and using the local newspaper he owns to push his case.
It's an unusual spectacle - watching a tech billionaire wage a social media war against a major resort operator. Prince has been vocal about his dissatisfaction with Park City's operations for several years now, but the recent campaign appears timed to capitalise on Vail's weak second-quarter earnings report.
The stock performance argument
Prince's central claim is that Vail's stock has performed abysmally over the past decade. According to his social media posts, investors who put money into Vail Resorts 10 years ago would have achieved similar returns by literally putting their cash in a hole. It's a damning statement if accurate, and one that gives his campaign some credibility beyond simple territorial grievances.
He's calling for Vail to become more "asset-light" - essentially selling off individual resorts and allowing them to develop independent character again. It's not an entirely unreasonable position given the backlash Vail has faced across multiple properties over operational standards and what some see as homogenised resort experiences.
