These Are The Billionaires Buying Hawaii

Forbes

America’s richest have been buying in Hawaii for years, but no one knew exactly how extensive their holdings were. To figure it out, Forbes spent months digging through thousands of property records on Hawaii’s six biggest islands. The results were astonishing: Just 37 billionaires own at least 218,000 acres. That’s 5.3% of the state’s total land and 11.1% of all non-government-owned land—though it is likely even higher given the lengths to which these billionaires go to obscure their ownership. Expressed a different way: Those 37 people, equal to just 0.003% of Hawaii’s total population of 1.4 million, own more than 10% of its land.   With billionaires like Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison buying up so much real estate, locals are wondering if Hawaii is becoming a playground for the rich.   Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/phoebeliu/2024/02/18/meet-the-billionaires-buying-up-hawaii/?sh=290719b850f3  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 America's richest have been buying in Hawaii for years, but no one knew exactly how extensive

00:05 their holdings were.

00:08 To figure it out, Forbes spent months digging through thousands of property records in the

00:12 state.

00:13 The results were astonishing.

00:14 Just 37 billionaires own at least 218,000 acres.

00:19 That's more than 5% of the state's total land and 11% of total non-government owned land.

00:25 That's likely even higher given the lengths to which these billionaires go to obscure

00:28 their ownership.

00:30 Expressed a different way, those 37 people, equal to just 0.003% of Hawaii's total population

00:36 of 1.4 million, own more than 10% of the land.

00:40 And a pandemic-era luxury real estate boom, which pushed housing prices even higher, has

00:45 heightened tensions between Hawaiians and wealthy out-of-state landowners.

00:50 One of the highest-profile billionaires in the state is Oprah Winfrey.

00:53 A year ago, she scooped up 850 more acres on Maui for $6.4 million, adding to the nearly

00:59 1,300 acres she already owned on the island.

01:03 Winfrey first bought a ranch on Maui two decades ago.

01:06 Her land was left unscathed when wildfires ripped through Maui last August, incinerating

01:11 6,625 acres and killing 100 people.

01:16 In the aftermath, Winfrey and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson set up the People's Fund of

01:20 Maui.

01:21 "This money is going to go to one of many residents who have been displaced in Maui."

01:28 With Winfrey personally contributing $10 million to the effort.

01:32 Larry Ellison, Oracle co-founder and Hawaii's biggest billionaire landowner by acreage,

01:37 bought about 97% of the island of Lanai for $300 million in 2012.

01:43 Since then, he's decked out the island with a wellness retreat and luxury hotels, but

01:47 as locals have complained, scant affordable housing.

01:51 Steve Case, the AOL co-founder, was born and raised in Hawaii.

01:55 Case is now the state's second largest billionaire landowner with 57,000 acres, including his

02:01 35,000 acre Grove Farm on Kauai, which leases out land for sustainable development projects.

02:07 Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's co-founder and CEO, spent at least $145 million on land that he's

02:13 turning into an enormous 1,450 acre partially walled off retreat in Kauai where he's raising

02:20 beer-fed Wagyu and Angus cattle.

02:22 In an Instagram post, he quipped that "Of all of my projects, this is the most delicious."

02:28 Frank Van Der Sloot, the billionaire founder of health and wellness business Melaleuca,

02:32 owns the historic 105 acre Valley House Estate in Kauai, where parts of Pirates of the Caribbean

02:38 and Jurassic Park were filmed.

02:41 An advocate for localizing Hawaii's beef industry, he operates the state's two largest

02:46 meat processing plants.

02:48 Quik Ling Chan, the Malaysian tycoon, owns a third of the island of Malakai through his

02:53 conglomerate, the Hong Leong Group.

02:56 Until 2008, Quik operated an enormous ranch there, including a golf course and a hotel,

03:01 but he ended its operations after the state rejected his development proposals.

03:06 Now island residents are trying to buy it back.

03:10 Locals hope that Hawaii is more than just a playground for the rich, but time will tell

03:14 if these billionaire residents prove otherwise.

03:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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