Necker Island (British Virgin Islands) world, the challenge begins at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with the top 10 new innovations progressing to the finals at Necker Island where Branson joins the judging panel along with technology figures and investors from Silicon Valley. The Necker Cup, an exhibition tennis tournament held at the end of the tennis season, has been held on the island annually since 2012. In February 2017, former U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle visited Necker as guests of Sir Richard Branson. On August 22, 2011, The Great House burned down in a blaze believed to be
Jacques Necker instead of money; government bonds rose 30% on the market. On 7 September Necker forbade the export of grain. The bankers advanced the treasury sufficient funds to forestall a crisis over the next year. The winter of 1788-89 was one of the bitterest in history. In the summer of 1789 when the population suffered from famine Necker intervened personally and successfully at the Amsterdam bank Hope & Co. to supply the 'King of France' with grain. The 2.4 million in the royal treasury he used as a collateral. Necker succeeded in doubling the representation of the Third Estate to satisfy