Gilbert Arenas Mansion !!! Gilbert Arenas Mansion D.C. !!!Gilbert Arenas is selling his infamous, shark tank-laden mansion for $3.5 million

Anywhere Gilbert Arenas lays his head is his home. (Getty Images)

When former Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas signed a gigantic $111 million contract extension back in the summer of 2008, we sharply disagreed with the move, while giving a knowing nod to Arenas' reputation as the NBA's lovable goofball prince. Undeterred, Arenas set to spending that money and enhancing that reputation by beginning construction on a massive D.C.-area mansion complete with a grotto, an infamous shark tank (that cost $5,000 a month in maintenance bills), seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and a couple of "sitting rooms" that sit between bedrooms and bathrooms that Gilbert clearly didn't use much as his knees (and reputation) fell apart over the years since.

Things bottomed out in 2011-12 for Gil, as he sat on the end of the bench in Memphis, two teams away from Washington and working for a minimum salary after hitting the waiver wire in late 2011. The contract has finally run its course, Gilbert's time in the NBA is likely done, and soon after the last of that confetti was swept away, Arenas put his mansion up for sale. According to his realtors, it can be yours for $3.5 million.

Via D.C. Sports Bog, Deadspin, SB Nation and Mouse on House you can now look at the mansion that once held so much promise. So much promise of shark and bikini but mostly shark grotto parties. Click the jump for a few pictures of the one-time palace:

The front porch. (Courtesy MouseOnHouse.com)The famous shark tank (Courtesy MouseOnHouse.com)The media room (Courtesy MouseOnHouse.com)How the foyer appeared, when Arenas descended his staircase (Courtesy MouseOnHouse.com)The master bedroom (Courtesy MouseOnHouse.com)The hot tub, from within the grotto (Courtesy MouseOnHouse.com)The outdoor patio, grotto to the right (Courtesy MouseOnHouse.com)The game room, where only the 'Scarface' poster remains (Courtesy MouseOnHouse.com)

Here's the description of the listing, from Arenas' realtors:

Truly unique - One of a kind! Expansive grand home sited on an exquisite gated lot. Soaring ceilings, gleaming cherry floors, CUSTOM details throughout, grand entertaining spaces and comfortable family living space, true CHEF'S kitchen w/large breakfast room overlooks the HUGE in-ground pool and Grotto, your own fantasy playground!!

(!!)

Andrew Sharp, at SB Nation, has penned a loving tribute to Gilbert's time in the house. Including his week-long "strike" away from his wife staying away from the mansion and sleeping in the Wizards' practice facility, the weird and Gilbert-heavy proposal ceremony that preceded that marriage, paintball fights with teammates that roped in some hired contractors to fill out a fair team for each side, all ending with this culmination from Sharp:

But what I'm saying is, Gilbert Arenas was the most delightfully batsh!t pro athlete we've seen in decades, out there living in the dream on a daily basis, and his "fantasy playground" house was a perfect extension of all that. The dreams are totally dead now, yeah, and that waterslide looks like it hasn't been used in years. But screw it.

Or, buy it. Your move, eccentric millionaires

Drake Mansion !!! Drake House !!! Drake Home !!! Drake Is Buying, Nicky Hilton Is Selling, Both Are In SoCal

In our mid-week celeb round up, we’re bringing you the deets on two completely unrelated celebrities and their equally divided real estate activities of the week. Socialite and designer Nicky Hilton and Canadian ‘recording artist’ Drake have both been busy in the Southern California market, trading up and trading out on some big-ticket digs. While Hilton is getting rid of her monochrome West Hollywood box, Drake shelled out the cash for an outsized estate in Hidden Hills.

The younger Hilton, who has scraped together a living as a handbag designer, is moving on from this ivy-covered white cube in West Hollywood, CA. The nondescript interiors of 4,000 square foot home are made even more so by a severe black-and-white color scheme, though the dining room does receive a bit of color from (of all things) vintage palm-print wallpaper. Not much of a backyard to speak of, though a swimming pool is squished in against the bordering hillside. Perhaps the home’s location just off Sunset Boulevard is the justification for its $3 million price tag…

In other news, hip-hop artist Drake reportedly paid about $2.8 million for a sprawling complex in Hidden Hills, CA. The 3 acre property has a wealth of attractions, including a 12,500 square foot main house, stables, and an extraordinary swimming pool, complete with waterfall and a torch-lit grotto (top and above). To me, the home looks like an amusement park mash-up of Snow White and California Adventure’s Grizzly River Run – but hey, to each his own. I’m sure living in Disneyland can’t be all that bad.

Read more: A Tuesday Two-fer: Drake Is Buying, Nicky Hilton Is Selling, Both Are In SoCal | REALTOR.com® Blogs

Yuri Milner Palo Alto Loire Chateau !!! Yuri Milner Mansion !!! Billionaire paid double mansion's worth, assessor says

Last year tech billionaire Yuri Milner dashed sales records in California when he paid an astounding$100 million for a Silicon Valley mansion.

A year later, the tax man disagrees with its worth. On Tuesday the Santa Clara County assessor told the Mercury News that the estate, known as Palo Alto Loire Chateau, is worth markedly less than Milner paid for it: $50.27 million, to be exact. It means Milner, an investor in Facebook and Groupon, shelled out 100% more than the estate is arguably worth by market standards.

“For whatever reason, and we don’t know, Mr. Milner purchased the property at more than its fair market value,” explains Larry Stone, Santa Clara County assessor. “It doesn’t happen very often and we knew at the time that it was unusual…since the highest assessed residential property in Silicon Valley prior to that time was $28.5 million.”

Stone’s team compared the home, located in Los Altos Hills, to 11 other ultra luxury mansions throughout California’s most expensive ZIP codes. They found that comparable properties sold for less, from the 30,000-square-foot Los Altos Hills home that fetched $28.5 million to the 56,500-square foot Holmby Hills Spelling Manor that ultimately commanded $85 million last year. The office also dispatched three appraisers to make independent assessments of Milner’s 17-acre, 25,000-square-foot abode.

---

Click here to see photos of Yuri Milner's $100 million mansion

---

The assessment means the Russian venture capitalist will pay $600,000 a year in taxes — a bill that could buy three homes in other parts of the U.S. at the national median price. However, the Mercury News asserts that the assessment still represents “a big property tax break for Milner,” as the bill would have been more like $1.2 million if it had matched the sales price.

Still, $600,000 represents quite a revenue boon for the county: at the time of Milner’s purchase, the assessed value had been $25.7 million, according to Santa Clara County assessor records, and the tax bill $304,000 per year. It means taxes are almost doubling.

As is the case with less expensive homes, sales price typically serves as the fair market value number. But it’s important to note that in the world of trophy real estate, fair market value and sales price are not the same thing. Since price at the ultra high-end is glaringly subjective to both seller’s and buyer’s personal tastes rather than pocketbooks, it’s not uncommon to see expensive homes fetch more than their “market value.” It means affluent homeowners sometimes enjoy taxes affiliated with a lower value than they might command for the home if they decide to sell. For example, the 2011 tax assessment on the Spelling Manor is $66.3 million even though it sold for $85 million, according to the L.A. County Assessor’s office. Even so, a $50 million discrepancy is surprising.

“Our job is to figure out, if it was listed on the open market –which this was not, what would other buyers have been willing to pay for it?” says David Ginsborg, Stone’s Deputy. “Our conclusion was there was no way anyone would have paid $100 million.”

Nestled among 17 hilltop acres in Los Altos Hills, Calif., the French chateau-style mansion encompasses 25,545 square feet of living space including 14 bathrooms, two dining rooms, a ballroom, a library and staff quarters. Outrageous amenities include a home theater, a wine cellar, a gym, an indoor pool, and a sauna. There’s also a 4,600-square foot guest house and two three-car garages, even a private car wash. The chateau traded hands in “turn-key” condition, meaning move-in-ready. Rumor has it that Milner, whose primary residence is located in Moscow, hasn’t even occupied it yet.

“It’s like artwork: When some people want something badly enough, they will pay what they believe they have to pay to get it,” adds Stone. Indeed, it’s not the first time a billionaire has shelled out a staggering sum and possibly overpaid for a trophy home. Even so, “He may want to have a conversation with his Realtors.”

Mumbai's Boom Turns Renters Into Millionaires

By Pooja Thakur

• 

  Photograph by Ashkay Mahajan for Bloomberg Businessweek -

Mea Kadwani, 78, has lived in the same apartment in the Mukund Mansion in Mumbai since he was a toddler. Thanks to rent control laws, he paid less than $20 a month for decades, and $23 a month recently, for a 2,600-square-foot space in the upscale Nepean Sea Road neighborhood, where rents typically top $2,000 a month. Now he’s moving on: After three years of negotiations, he and his wife pocketed $2.5 million from Orbit, a real estate developer planning to turn the building into a garage for residents of its 29-story Villa Orb tower under construction next door.

The developer offered Kadwani an apartment in the new building. Instead, Kadwani took the money and moved to a first-floor flat nearby. “I refused an apartment in the redeveloped building, as the idea of staying in these tall towers didn’t appeal to me,” he says.

Thousands of rent-controlled tenants in India’s fast-growing financial hub are becoming millionaires as developers tear down crumbling colonial mansions to build luxury towers for the rich, according to Orbit and other companies. Home prices in Mumbai have climbed to a record 10,833 rupees ($200) per square foot, doubling in three years, according to Liases Foras Real Estate Rating & Research, based in the city.

South Mumbai, including a stretch of prime land hugging the Arabian Sea, has about 500 dilapidated stone structures dating back to the early 1900s with a potential value of about $40 billion if redeveloped, according to Pujit Aggarwal, managing director at Orbit, which specializes in buying old buildings and replacing them with modern towers. “For generations, most tenants were living a hand-to-mouth existence, barely making two ends meet,” says Aggarwal, whose firm is one of about 75 vying to oust Mumbai’s rent-controlled residents. “Now, with redevelopment, these tenants have become multimillionaires overnight as capital values of the properties they occupied soared.”

[Related: 10 cities with amazing deals for renters]

It’s still a good deal for landlords. At Villa Orb, five-bedroom units are selling for about $12 million, Aggarwal says. He expects to make four times the value of his investment in the project, after paying 1 billion rupees to the landlords to acquire the sites, 750 million rupees to the tenants, and construction costs. Not all rent-controlled tenants end up rich. Mitul Bhatia, a 33-year-old recruitment consultant, says he and his parents were forced to vacate their 972-square-foot, three-bedroom apartment in South Mumbai after the landlord turned off the water and electricity.

The Bombay rent control act of 1947 was introduced to provide relief to the city’s migrants after the partition of colonial India. Rents at about 19,000 buildings were set at 1940 levels to prevent owners from charging excessive rates during a time of distress. In Mumbai, the measures have been amended and the act rechristened the Maharashtra Rent Control Bill, which allows for 5 percent annual rent increases.

Like other colonial-era buildings, Mukund Mansion, built in 1923, is crumbling. Owners often can’t afford to maintain their buildings on the rents they receive. Barred from evicting tenants by the rent control statutes, their only way to cash in on rising property values is to sell the building to a developer who can afford to buy them out. Kadwani, who suffered a minor injury when part of the building’s roof caved in, sympathizes. “The landlord was in a pitiable condition,” he says. “We didn’t expect him to do much for the building given the rents we were paying him.”

[Related: Inflation Makes Big Incomes Smaller]

Of the nine families in Mukund Mansion, the Kadwanis held out the longest and got one of the highest payoffs, says Aggarwal. Before Orbit bought the building, Kadwani had wanted to move. “We tried to sell our tenancy rights several times, but the landlord refused to transfer the property to the new tenant,” he says. “In hindsight, it was a blessing that he didn’t agree, or we would have sold out for a fraction of what we got in the end.”

5 celebrity homes on the market

By Jason Notte | TheStreet.com

MORE FROM THE STREET

• » 10 Countries Where Retirees Live Large
  
• » 10 Most Convenient Cities in America
  
• » 10 Cities Poised For Greatness In 2012
  

Real estate is perhaps the only area where the decidedly less-than-famous can realistically live like celebrities.

It doesn't require talent, charisma or camera time. It just requires money, and usually a star trailer full of it at that. If you've got a face for radio and a dearth of god-given talent that makes long-forgotten Real World cast members look like Hollywood Walk-Of-Famers by comparison, throwing enough money at the right property could help boost your Q rating.

We teamed up with the folks at Zillow and found five properties being sold by celebrities. Living in one of these homes won't make you a celebrity, but it'll help you live like one without having to chase the paparazzi away every few days or so:

Ryan Murphy's Malibu digs
Location: Malibu, Calif.
Price: $6.995 million

The Glee creator just held a fundraiser for President Barack Obama at his Beverly Hills home, but Murphy's looking to recoup a little cash for himself by selling this beachfront property that he just bought from actress Charlize Theron last year. The house may have been drained of its original glee after Theron's split from husband Stuart Thompson forced its sale last year, but it still has enough amenities to coax a smile out of Sue Sylvester. The 2,095-square-foot home has three bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths as well as beachfront perks including an oversized waterfront deck with lounge, cabana, spa, fire pit and outdoor shower.

Gianni Versace's Miami mansion
Location: Miami Beach, Fla.
Price: $125 million

What makes the late fashion designer's estate worth nine figures, besides the Versace label? How about Casa Casuarina's 18,838 square feet, 10 bedrooms, 11 baths and a 54-foot mosaic pool lined in 24-karat gold? Versace paid $10 million for it 20 years ago before making another $33 million in upgrades.

It was last bought by telecom mogul Peter Loftin for $20 million in 2000 and converted into a boutique hotel back in 2009. Loftin's kept the place in exquisite condition, but some buyers may still have misgivings about buying the place where Versace himself was killed on the front steps 15 years ago.

Michael C. Hall's Hollywood Hills home
Location: Los Angeles
Price: $1.995 million

The star of Showtime's Dexter would have had plenty of space for plastic-cloaked kill rooms and a "dark passenger" in this 3,535-square-foot home. Designed by famed Los Angeles architect Hal Levitt -- who designed homes for Olivia Newton-John, Dean Martin, Debbie Reynolds and Lionel Ritchie -- Hall's home has four bedrooms, five baths, a downstairs gym with guest room with its own bath, extensive patio space and canyon views. Hall has owned the home since 2008, but it's been a bit emptier since his divorce from Dexter co-star Jennifer Carpenter.

Claire Danes' Soho apartment
Location: New York City
Price: $6 million

Danes has come a long way from playing sullen, disaffected Angela in the ever-so-'90s drama My So-Called Life to winning this year's Best Actress Golden Globe for her role in Showtime's Homeland. Her taste in real estate is apparently evolving as well. Danes and husband Hugh Dancy are parting with their 4,000-square-foot loft and its high ceilings, 16 windows, exposed brick and hardwood floors. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home on quiet, cobblestoned Wooster Street also includes a wood-burning fireplace and direct elevator access. Only Danes knows what the next step is from there, but that foundation's nothing to sulk about.

Zsa Zsa Gabor's Bel-Air home
Location: Los Angeles
Price: $14.9 million

It's kind of tough explaining Zsa Zsa Gabor to people these days. Was she Paris Hilton with better breeding and acting talent? Were she and her sisters more presentable Kardashians? In either case, the woman perhaps most famous for being famous and never pronouncing the "r" in "darling" is in ill health and selling off her sprawling 26-room, 8,878-square-foot home. The estate's seven bedrooms, seven baths and several indoor/outdoor entertaining spaces hosted Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and presidents Ronald Reagan and both Bushes. Sitting on more than an acre overlooking Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean, the estate is a near-perfect statement on Gabor herself: Lavish and a bit gaudy, but an enduring reminder of a Hollywood that's slowly fading away.

The World's Best Business Schools

Jennifer Polland

(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Picking the right business school is more important than ever.

The right school gives you an advantage in a tough market. The wrong school could be a critical waste of time and money.

Our survey has determined that the best program out there is Stanford Business School.

Harvard, which held the top spot for the past two years, came in a close second, with Wharton in third.

Our results are based on an extensive survey of the people who matter most to your future: real professionals. Over one thousand of our readers responded, of which 87 percent had attended business school and 71 percent had hiring experience.

Many respondents said a network of contacts was the most important thing you get out of business school (43 percent); while others named the skills & knowledge acquired in courses (34 percent) or the brand value associated with a school (23 percent).

Besides the usual top American contenders, more international schools ranked in the top 10 category this year, with London Business School coming in at #5 and INSEAD ranking at #10. Respondents also suggested that we include other international schools next year, like Cambridge (Judge Business School), the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University, the Indian Institute of Management, the Indian School of Business and The University of Hong Kong (HKU).

Click here to view as one page >

#50 University of Minnesota (Carlson)

Carlson scored a 1.94 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #28
US News: #30
Economist: #65
Forbes: #28

Last year's list: NR

#49 University of Washington (Foster)

Foster scored a 1.96 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #31
US News: #35
Economist: #35
Forbes: #36

Last year's list: #50

#48 Queen's University

Wikimedia Commons

Queen's University scored a 1.98 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #2 (Non-U.S.)
US News: NR
Economist: NR
Forbes: NR

Last year's list: NR

#47 Brigham Young University (Marriott)

BYU.edu

Marriott scored a 1.98 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

Tie Breaker: Marriott had a 1.1% excellent rating with 7 votes, while Queen's University had a 1.1% excellent rating with 6 votes--the difference of only 1 vote.

BusinessWeek: #27
US News: #34
Economist: NR
Forbes: #15

Last year's list: #46

Comments: "BYU's Marriott Business School is one of the best, and at a very affordable price. Why pay hundreds of thousands of dollars every year when you can pay just a couple thousand and have the same level of education as Stanford or Harvard."

#46 Purdue University (Krannert)

Wikipedia

Krannert scored a 1.99 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #41
US News: #42
Economist: #85
Forbes: #40

Last year's list: #43

#45 Washington University - St. Louis (Olin)

Wikimedia Commons

Olin scored a 2.01 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #40
US News: #22
Economist: #42
Forbes: #47

Last year's list: #36

#44 Ohio State University (Fisher)

Twitter (@GerdOzone)

Fisher scored a 2.02 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #32
US News: #25
Economist: #51
Forbes: #34

Last year's list: #40

#43 University of California - Irvine (Merage)

Wikimedia Commons

Merage scored a 2.02 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

Tie Breaker: Merage had a 1.0% excellent rating, while Fisher had a 0.8% excellent rating.

BusinessWeek: NR
US News: #49
Economist: NR
Forbes: #69

Last year's list: #40

#42 University of Western Ontario (Ivey)

Wikimedia Commons

Ivey scored a 2.05 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #6 (Non-U.S.)
US News: NR
Economist: NR
Forbes: NR

Last year's list: #49

#41 George Washington University

Wikimedia Commons

George Washington University scored a 2.06 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #52
US News: #57
Economist: #68
Forbes: NR

Last year's list: #42

#40 Babson College (Olin)

babson.edu

Olin scored a 2.07 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #39
US News: #61
Economist: NR
Forbes: #44

Last year's list: #39

Comments: "Babson flies under the radar with great pride, almost like a stealth drone. Given the over-riding power of other school brands, Babson students come out swinging and ready to roll up their sleeves. Basically, 'Babos' are trained and more than prepared to take on bigger fish!"

#39 Georgia Institute of Technology

Wikimedia Commons

Georgia Institute of Technology scored a 2.09 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #23
US News: #32
Economist: NR
Forbes: #43

Last year's list: #44

#38 Indiana University (Kelley)

nichcollins

Kelley scored a 2.14 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #19
US News: #23
Economist: #39
Forbes: #27

Last year's list: #38

#37 University of Toronto (Rotman)

Flickr/bobistraveling

Rotman scored a 2.15 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #8 (Non-U.S.)
US News: NR
Economist: NR
Forbes: NR

Last year's list: #41

Comments: "The city you're in matters. An MBA is partly about networks, and it's a lot easier to build a network when you can go meet professionals for quick coffee meetings whenever they are available. Going to Rotman I used to get down to Bay St. (Canadian Wall St.) after class or even in between class to meet people who would later be scanning my resume. These meetings were critical to me getting the job I wanted."

#36 Boston University

Flickr/wallyg

Boston University scored a 2.17 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #38
US News: #37
Economist: #49
Forbes: #61

Last year's list: #35

#35 Vanderbilt University (Owen)

Wikimedia Commons

Owen scored a 2.17 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

Tie Breaker: Owen had a 2.0% excellent rating, while Boston University had a 1.4% excellent rating.

BusinessWeek: #37
US News: #25
Economist: #34
Forbes: #33

Last year's list: #37

#34 Michigan State University (Broad)

Nike

Broad scored a 2.28 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #20
US News: #44
Economist: NR
Forbes: #19

Last year's list: #34

#33 Thunderbird School of Global Management

Thunderbird

Thunderbird School of Global Management scored a 2.28 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

Tie Breaker: Thunderbird School of Global Management had a 3.0% excellent rating, while Broad had a 2.2% excellent rating.

BusinessWeek: #45
US News: #75
Economist: #87
Forbes: #54

Last year's list: #33

Comments: "Hard to match Thunderbird's global focus, and they were doing it far before it became obvious."

#32 University of Notre Dame (Mendoza)

business.nd.edu

Mendoza scored a 2.30 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #24
US News: #25
Economist: #40
Forbes: #31

Last year's list: #29

Comments: "Notre Dame lives up to their reputation in delivering top candidates who can execute and operate with integrity. Additionally, they have heavy executive support and engagement from top levels at GE." [GE recruiter]

"Notre Dame is overrated because the quality of the graduates is weak. The academic curriculum only affords students a few core classes by the time they graduate which leads to weak analytical skills. Alumni network makes up for this deficiency."

#31 University of Southern California (Marshall)

Wikimedia Commons

Marshall scored a 2.31 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #26
US News: #21
Economist: #22
Forbes: #39

Last year's list: #32

#30 Emory University (Goizueta)

Goizueta scored a 2.40 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #22
US News: #19
Economist: #28
Forbes: #22

Last year's list: #25

Comments: "Emory is a marketing and brand management must go. The professors get it and if you are smart enough to get what they are sharing you'll make more money more often as an entrepreneur or marketer when you leave the school."

"Emory is a small school but they have a strong health care presence and they definitely hit the geographical component for us in terms of our Alpharetta offices." [McKesson recruiter]

#29 Georgetown University (McDonough)

Flickr/stevemadsen

McDonough scored a 2.45 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #33
US News: #24
Economist: #44
Forbes: #35

Last year's list: #24

Comments: "I think the value of business school is dependent on where you want to get a job after. A Georgetown MBA probably looks great in DC or the mid-Atlantic where there are not tons of other MBAs. While a Georgetown MBA will be lost in Silicon Valley where there is a huge concentration of Stanford, Harvard, and Haas people looking for jobs."

#28 University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)

Wikimedia Commons

UNC scored a 2.51 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #16
US News: #19
Economist: #47
Forbes: #16

Last year's list: #27

#27 University of Texas - Austin (McCombs)

McCombs scored a 2.52 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #25
US News: #17
Economist: #31
Forbes: #17

Last year's list: #23

Comments: "UT is one of the highest value for your money schools out there. It is relatively easy to score an in-state tuition, it's consistently ranked among the top 20 schools, but most importantly it gives you comparable access to top consulting firms, banking institutions, and many Fortune 500 companies. If you are willing to stay in Texas (great lifestyle, low tax rates, affordable in general) you have an unmatched network in top companies. And, while base salary is lower than many east coast offers, life is much more affordable."

#26 ESADE (Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas)

Wikimedia Commons

ESADE scored a 2.55 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #4 (Non-U.S.)
US News: NR
Economist: #17
Forbes: NR

Last year's list: #28

#25 IE Business School (Instituto de Empresa)

Altisidora via wikimedia

IE scored a 2.66 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #3 (Non-U.S.)
US News: NR
Economist: #24
Forbes: #3 (Non-U.S.)

Last year's list: #31

Comments: "The IE Business School forms some of the best professionals I have met. They seem to have a better understanding of the international environment than students in the United States."

#24 IMD (International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne)

Flickr/Sklathill

IMD scored a 2.81 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #7 (Non-U.S.)
US News: NR
Economist: #3
Forbes: #1 (Non-U.S.)

Last year's list: #26

#23 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)

Wikimedia Commons

Tepper scored a 2.84 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #15
US News: #18
Economist: #16
Forbes: #23

Last year's list: #18

#22 IESE Business School (University of Navarra

IESE.es

IESE scored a 2.85 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #12 (Non-U.S.)
US News: NR
Economist: #10
Forbes: #3 (Non-U.S.)

Last year's list: #30

Comments: "Set in a beautiful campus in one of the most vibrant cities in Europe, IESE provides a truly global exposure with students and professors from over 60 countries. It tests our decision skills while preparing us to be better managers in the world with its strong focus on ethics."

"IESE is far ahead of other business schools in adapting to post-crisis educational needs. Business school is no longer just about names and networking and IESE ensures that its students are prepared and disciplined to be skilled and thoughtful leaders in a shifting world."

"I was aiming to move from investment banking into the niche sector of impact investing and social entrepreneurship. Through IESE I was introduced to key players in that community and have since landed a job in exactly the sector I was aiming at. Without the IESE connections this would not have been possible. I would gladly repeat my decision to go to IESE Business School and would have no doubts about recommending the school to prospective students."

#21 University of California - Los Angeles (Anderson)

Anderson scored a 2.87 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #17
US News: #15
Economist: #27
Forbes: #20

Last year's list: #21

#20 HEC Paris (École des Hautes Études Commerciales)

Wikimedia Commons

HEC Paris scored a 2.89 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #14 (Non-U.S.)
US News: NR
Economist: #14
Forbes: #8 (Non-U.S.)

Last year's list: #22

Comments: "Value depends on geography - HEC Paris is immensely valuable if you want to work in France. Outside of France its cache is far less valuable (I work in London and it has very low value compared to LBS). LBS however seems to be a more global school. Also depends on sector - HEC is great if you want to work in luxury goods / strategy, finance less so."

#19 University of Virginia (Darden)

Flickr/beaunose

Darden scored a 2.95 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #11
US News: #13
Economist: #4
Forbes: #9

Last year's list: #19

Comments: "Ultimately an MBA is an investment and you should evaluate it based on two metrics: return on investment (financial) and the students' evaluation of the program. Although I am clearly biased, Darden scores very high on both accounts (Forbes' ROI metrics for the financial; many other surveys for student satisfaction)."

#18 University of Michigan (Ross)

Flickr/cseeman

Ross scored a 2.99 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #7
US News: #13
Economist: #30
Forbes: #14

Last year's list: #20

#17 University of Oxford (Saïd)

domeheid on flickr

Saïd scored a 3.23 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #16 (Non-U.S.)
US News: NR
Economist: #60
Forbes: #6 (Non-U.S.)

Last year's list: #17

Comments: "Said Business School provides a unique experience combining first-class professors, a 21st century approach to business, an unrivalled international network of colleagues, and an amazing connection to one of the world's oldest and best universities."

"Said Business School is an extremely innovative school with a flexible curriculum, top-notch faculty, and a truly international student body (from every continent). They are very much focused on entrepreneurship and the VC community. And the prestige of Oxford is the cherry on the cake that opens doors all over the world."

#16 Cornell University (Johnson)

Johnson scored a 3.33 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #13
US News: #16
Economist: #25
Forbes: #8

Last year's list: #14

Comments: "Cornell's MBA program is the only program with a student-run venture capital fund. It's invested hundreds of thousands of dollars and has a good track record. It's called BR Ventures."

"Cornell University is consistently the business school of choice, as proven by the number of hedge fund managers and Forbes' list of the Top 400 Billionaires in the World."

#15 Duke University (Fuqua)

AP

Fuqua scored a 3.41 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #6
US News: #12
Economist: #20
Forbes: #12

Last year's list: #13

Comments: "Duke's Fuqua School of Business has a collaborative, innovative and entrepreneurial spirit that continues to pay dividends and be exhibited by alums long after graduation."

#14 Yale University

Yale scored a 3.42 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #21
US News: #10
Economist: #26
Forbes: #11

Last year's list: #12

Comments: "Most business school rankings focus on criteria that were important to a pre-bubble economy. I feel like my business school and my experience was rooted in a curriculum that attempted to look forward and prepare for the changing paradigm of economic activity. Yale does a good job breaking the silo approach to business education and forcing you to participate in social osmosis with your peers. That combined with the fact that the people are chill made for two of the best and most intellectually rewarding years of my life."

"Yale is grossly underrated -- very interesting, dedicated student body, trying to do creative things with the curriculum."

#13 University of California - Berkeley (Haas)

Wikipedia

Haas scored a 3.48 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #8
US News: #7
Economist: #6
Forbes: #13

Last year's list: #10

#12 New York University (Stern)

Flickr/Julio Costa Zambelli

Stern scored a 3.48 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

Tie Breaker: Stern had a 15.7% excellent rating with 121 votes, while Haas had a 15.7% excellent rating with 116 votes--the difference of only 5 votes.

BusinessWeek: #18
US News: #11
Economist: #12
Forbes: #18

Last year's list: #15

Comments: "Stern has a convenient geographic location in lower Manhattan as well as a technical emphasis on finance and accounting that are second to none, particularly with its staff of all-stars that Wall Street banks often look to for insight and training. These include: Aswath Damodoran (corporate finance), William Silber (finance), Nouriel Roubini (Economics) and Dhananjay Gode (accounting)."

"I feel that it is important to focus on the bottom line of going to business school. It is not the professors, no matter how good they are, the campus, no matter how nice it is, etc. that matter. What matters at the end of the day is what type of job are you going to obtain after business school. A school that opens the doors to your desired field is the ideal school for you. There is no single school, in my experience, that excels at everything. In my case, NYU Stern allowed me to make a 180 degree career switch, from a career in sales/marketing to Investment Banking. So for me, in terms of ROI, my school is the best school. The incredible network that I built and the life as a student in NYC was just a great sweet bonus."

#11 London School of Economics

Flickr/adewale_oshineye

London School of Economics scored a 3.51 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: NR
US News: NR
Economist: NR
Forbes: NR

Last year's list: #9

Comments: "LSE gets a 3 (for Americans) because we have some unfounded belief in its prestige. Meet any LSE 'MBA' student (I think technically they offer a Master's in Management) and you'll want to give them a 1."

#10 INSEAD (Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires)

entrypark.com

INSEAD scored a 3.62 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #1 (Non-U.S.)
US News: #NR
Economist: #19
Forbes: #2 (Non-US)

Last year's list: #16

Comments: "INSEAD has the most diverse, most international, student body and alumni network. They are ALL multi-lingual."

#9 Dartmouth College (Tuck)

Wikimedia Commons

Tuck scored a 3.69 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #14
US News: #9
Economist: #1
Forbes: #6

Last year's list: #8

Comments: "Having started at CUNY Baruch and finished at Tuck at Dartmouth, I am not impressed by the distinctions between the curriculums; they are both largely vocational (although Tuck benefits from brand name professors such as Ken French, the curriculum doesn't really delve into enough depth to take advantage of such expertise). Rather, the distinction lies in the programs' reputations (don't bother if its not Top 10) and the alumni network that you gain access to post-graduation."

#8 Northwestern University (Kellogg)

Flickr/Frank Gruber

Kellogg scored a 3.83 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #4
US News: #4
Economist: #18
Forbes: #7

Last year's list: #7

Comments: "I was lucky to get into Kellogg, and I had an amazing experience. I learned a lot from my classes, but I also learned a lot about where the value of an MBA really manifests: in the connections. Most MBA programs of any value teach similar lessons and methodologies--I have friends that went to 2nd and 3rd tier schools that learned the same substantive lessons as we did at Kellogg, but they simply don't have the same high caliber network that the higher ranked schools offer."

#7 Columbia University

David Lerman

Columbia scored a 3.93 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #9
US News: #8
Economist: #7
Forbes: #5

Last year's list: #5

Comments: "Columbia Business School's ivy league prestige and location in NYC with access to the best financiers, VC's, techies cannot be matched by most other top schools."

"Columbia is the best b-school because the professors have been/are practitioners, the network is diverse, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are on campus daily, the faculty sincerely cares about the students and the students are smart and have social skills. "

#6 University of Chicago (Booth)

Flickr/Solidarity Drive

Booth scored a 3.98 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #1
US News: #4
Economist: #2
Forbes: #3

Last year's list: #6

Comments: "The University of Chicago is where bulk of the modern finance theory was invented. Combine that with their strong alumni network and you get the best pound-for-pound b-school in the world!"

"My experience working with MBA graduates is that Chicago Booth candidates were the smartest and most hard working but HBS candidates had access to a larger alumni network and thus better opportunities."

#5: London Business School

Bjoertvedt via wikimedia

London Business School scored a 4.07 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #5 (Non-U.S.)
US News: #NR
Economist: #13
Forbes: #1 (Non-U.S.)

Last year's list: #11

Comments: "In the ever increasingly global nature of the business world, an international degree from a top business programme proves to be most valuable. London Business School, with 90% international students from all over the world is one of the few that can be categorized as truly international."

"Just as the Stanford GSB was the new HBS at the turn of the century, London Business School is quickly becoming the world's pre-eminent school for the calibre of its faculty and students, its international outlook, and the career-accelerating opportunities available to its alumni."

"London Business School provides a great environment nourishing entrepreneurship. Initiatives like the business incubator provide a means for new businesses to get off the ground."

#4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)

Wikimedia Commons

Sloan scored a 4.10 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #10
US News: #4
Economist: #11
Forbes: #10

Last year's list: #4

Comments: "MIT's Sloan school has good things about its VC and independent programs for students to really go off on their own."

#3 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)

Jack Duval via flickr

Wharton scored a 4.24 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #3
US News: #3
Economist: #15
Forbes: #4

Last year's list: #3

Comments: "My two years at Wharton far exceeded my expectations. Not only does the school provide students with world-class management and technical skills, but it also offers a wealth of experiential learning opportunities through its vast network of student-run clubs, entrepreneurial programs, and school-sponsored leadership programs. I have also found that the Wharton brand is invaluable - prior to school I worked as a fundraiser for nonprofits and was ready for a career change. Earning a degree from Wharton opened up opportunities that were not previously available to me, and I ended up receiving multiple job offers from top consulting firms."

"Wharton's unusually large array of majors and electives make it an excellent choice for those looking for a highly-tailored experience."

#2: Harvard University

Patricia Drury/ Flickr

Harvard scored a 4.40 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #2
US News: #1
Economist: #5
Forbes: #1

Last year's list: #1

Comments: "Differentiation is critical in the business world, and it's the same in the business school world: Harvard's emphasis on research, and it's continual innovation on the curriculum and pedagogical approaches to business education, is remarkably different from other schools. That's what guided my decision to attend, and it's something that should factor into more decisions."

"Harvard is both among the most selective and has the largest graduating class of any of these schools listed. This means that students can find like-minded colleagues in almost any field in which they're interested. Given that I believe that networking is the primary value provided by a full-time MBA program, those two factors (tightly screened yet large student body) make Harvard an excellent choice."

"If you're looking for someone with textbook answers, a broad network, and willful obedience, hire a HBS grad. If you're looking for someone with vision, an innovative drive, and exceptional interpersonal skills, hire a Stanford GSB grad."

#1: Stanford University

Flickr/naotakem

Stanford scored a 4.45 out of 5 on Business Insider's rating.

BusinessWeek: #5
US News: #1
Economist: #8
Forbes: #2

Last year's list: #2

Comments: "Stanford is an incredibly inspiring place to learn. They push their students to be the best they can be and accept an incredibly diverse group of students from all backgrounds and disciplines."

"When you graduate from Stanford GSB you know precisely who you are, as well as who you are not. That pays more dividends professionally and personally than all the other assets combined."

"With a sparkling new campus to add to its amazing culture, intimate, responsive network and world-class faculty, the Stanford GSB has become a no-brainer top-pick for most incoming domestic students. The school still has a way to go to build its brand outside the United States to rival Harvard's, and it's not yet clear which educational model will prevail."