The bulk of the Crescent H Ranch at Jackson, Wyoming, owned by Chattanoogan John "Thunder" Thornton was bought by a Cleveland, Tenn., man at an auction Tuesday.
Allan Jones, a friend of Thornton, had the high bid of $12.3 million.
There were 29 bidders in all for the 233-acre guest ranch, a 35-acre homesite and three conservation tracts.
Some 100 people attended the sale at the well-known Crescent H lodge.
Thornton also put a Teton Pines home up for sale, and it went to Pines resident Carole Liebzeit for $997,500.
On Monday, a 35-acre homesite in Crescent H was sold for $5 million.
Total auction sales were $18.3 million.
The Crescent H includes a lodge and 10 cabins and is appraised at nearly $16.2 million.
Jones said he had not intended to buy the whole ranch, but he said the price was too reasonable to resist.
The actual bid was $11.75 million, and five percent closing costs brought the total to $12.3 million.
Jones has a 400-acre estate in Bradley County.
Thornton said he was disappointed in the amount the sale brought, but he said it is a tough economy. He said he was glad his friend ended up with it, saying Jones "got a great deal."
Thornton paid $52 million for the Crescent H in 1997, acquiring it after former owner Donald Albrecht went bankrupt. He sold numerous multi-million-dollar lots off it in recent years.
Thornton said he decided to sell the ranch in order to spend more time with his family, including his five children.
Jones made his fortune in the cash advance business. He owns more than 700 Pay Day Cash Advance sites.