If that is a true statement (I don't really know either way), then the Jupiter situation may be very similar to Bachelor Gulch. If Jupiter owners decide to vote on terminating their Ritz Carlton management contract, Marriott would hold little influence over the outcome of that vote.
I don't have a dog in this fight, but I can certainly understand why Ritz Club owners would not want their experience diluted after spending so much money. The Ritz component contributed heavily to the MVCI financial problems leading to the spinoff, so some major changes had to be made. I feel bad for the Ritz owners nonetheless.
You are 100% correct, the liabilities of the unsold Ritz-Carlton Club fractional and whole ownership inventory was a huge liability for MVCI, before the spinoff (this was very clearly disclosed in the MVW SEC filings) . What was particularly disheartening, was that without those liabilities, MVCI would have performed very well during recent turbulent times (which would have been a nice boost for the MVCI employees who were making that happen). Marriott is well known and respected for battening down the hatch and riding out the storm during financially turbulent times, but unfortunately, all of that unsold Ritz-Carlton Club inventory, created monumental challenges for MVCI.
The Jupiter situation is different than Bachelor Gulch for a few reasons, (1) the only inventory that Marriott may have owned at BG (after BG was sold out) was defaulted inventory (the Trust had not purchased any inventory at BG), so Marriott had little influence on a succession vote, and (2) The BG CLUB campus is totally unlike Jupiter; the BG Club is contained in one building. In Jupiter, there is a very large expanse of land, now owned by the homeowners and Trump, the Club House is owned by Trump, the golf course is owned by Trump, and Trump's people are the backbone of the Club's operations. The only Ritz-Carlton employee presence that exists in Jupiter now is to support the members and guests of the fractional club homes, and the back of the house support of Ritz-Carlton Club Member Services (Lord knows how many Vice Presidents MVW has for this limited function).
So, I'm not sure how much the Jupiter fractional members would gain by defecting from The Ritz-Carlton Club, other than the possibility of lower maintenance fees, the loss of stature that comes with a Ritz-Carlton affiliation, and the loss of reciprocal usage between the few remaining Ritz-Carlton Clubs, and Ritz-Carlton hotel benefits. I'd think the biggest current concern for the Jupiter fractional club members is the approximately 70% devaluation of their investment, and the ever-rising number of JUP fractional members who can not pay their dues.
Sadly, in my opinion, the loss of the BG Club represented a huge adverse hit to The Ritz-Carlton Club. The BG Club was one of the nicest clubs in the system, it was small, intimate, isolated yet convenient, ski-in/ski-out, connected to a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, an in a renowned destination.
