MDP Statement on Report Revealing Luxury Property Owner Tim Sheehy “More Wealthy Businessman than Rugged Cattleman”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 1, 2023

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monica@mtdems.org

Despite trying to portray himself as a rugged westerner, reporting reveals Montana newcomer Sheehy owns multimillion-dollar resort properties across the state
 

Helena, MT – Tim Sheehy moved to Montana nine years ago and wasted no time buying up luxury resort properties in some of the highest-priced places in Montana, from a private peninsula on Flathead Lake to a ski-in, ski-out resort in Big Sky valued at $7.7 million. 

“The last thing Montanans want in a senator is an out-of-state multimillionaire who moved to Montana, bought up luxury vacation properties on our waterfronts and mountains, and contributed to pricing local families out of their homes,” said Monica Robinson, senior communications advisor for the Montana Democratic Party. 

HuffPost: Meet The Millionaire 'Cowboy' And Ex-Navy SEAL Being Primed To Take On Sen. Jon Tester
By Chris D’Angelo
June 1, 2023

• Businessman Tim Sheehy has mourned Montana's scenic valleys being turned into luxury resorts. He owns mansions at Flathead Lake and Big Sky resort.
   

• Tim Sheehy, a decorated military veteran who Republicans are recruiting to take on Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) in 2024, is a newfound rancher who says he prefers Montana’s “tough” farm country and laments that many of the state’s “scenic valleys have gone the way of luxury resorts and subdivisions.”
   

• But Sheehy is more wealthy businessman than rugged cattleman, with thousands of acres of land and multimillion-dollar properties on Flathead Lake and in the lavish resort community of Big Sky. 
   

• A Minnesota native, his Montana roots are still relatively young — something that can create headaches when running for public office in Big Sky Country.
   

• “It’s tough country, windy, cold, and remote, but that’s what drew me to it. Central Montana is kind of like a time warp,” he told Montana Land Reliance in 2021. “Other scenic valleys have gone the way of luxury resorts and subdivisions, but the Martinsdale area is still big ranch and farm country[.”]
   

• But Sheehy’s business success has allowed him to snag his slices of luxury development in other scenic parts of the state.
   

• He is listed as manager of Bird Point LLC, which recently purchased a secluded, 7-acre peninsula on the south shore of Flathead Lake, according to HuffPost’s review of property and business records. 
   

• The property features a 5,000-square-foot, 6-bedroom main house, a 2-bedroom guest cabin and 3-bedroom “caretaker quarters,” multiple docks, a sandy beach, a tennis court, five-car garage and 2,400 feet of waterfront. When the property went on the market in 2020 for just under $10 million, luxury real estate site Mansion Global wrote that “superlatives such as ‘unique,’ ‘totally private’ and ‘stunning’ are hardly exaggerations.”
   

• Business records also show Sheehy is manager of Half Hitch Big Sky LLC, which owns a 3,200-square-foot chalet in the ritzy, unincorporated resort community of Big Sky. Built in 2006 and part of Moonlight Basin, a private club in Big Sky, the home features five bedrooms, six full bathrooms, an outdoor hot tub and “prime ski in/ski out access,” and rents for an average $1,400 per night, according to a rental listing on Vrbo.
   

• Last year, [Sheehy] earned nearly $5 million in salary and bonuses as the CEO of Bridger Aerospace, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
   

• On several political contributions, Sheehy listed “cowboy” or “rancher” as his occupation.

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