Mark Zuckerberg and Kauai

Since I wrote about Larry Ellison’s purchase of the island of Lanai in the previous post, I would now like to write about billionaire Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s purchase of more than 1,300 acres of land on the island of Kauai for $153 million. Kauai is the oldest island in the Hawaiian chain of islands.

Zuckerberg’s property lies on the northeastern shore of Kauai. It is beachfront property, but it also has a cattle ranch and is home to native birds, seals, turtles, and other species of wildlife as well as plants and trees. Zuckerberg wants to promote conservation, preservation, and sustainability.

Though he at times has been controversial here in Hawaii, he seems to have improved his image lately. He and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, have donated millions of dollars to Kauai during the pandemic. Recently, Priscilla administered 100 shots of the vaccine at the Wilcox Medical Center, while Mark helped with setting up the families at the site.

The Zuckerbergs and their children spend most of their time in Palo Alto, California, near Facebook’s headquarters, but they do vacation on Kauai as often as possible. They love the natural beauty of Kauai.

The Zuckerberg property is located on the northeastern shore of Kauai:

This is the Zuckerbergs’ $70 million house on Kauai:

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan:

Mark Zuckerberg has generated controversy regarding his handling of parcels of land owned by Hawaiians on his property. He filed lawsuits against them, but dropped the lawsuits later. These properties were then auctioned off to someone affiliated with Zuckerberg.

He then built a 6 foot tall rock wall around the perimeter of his property to block noise from the street. This upset his neighbors, because it blocked the view and breeze. However, the wall does not block access to the public beach, so the Zuckerbergs’ property is not as private and as exclusive as they would like:

Mark Zuckerberg is only 37 years old, but he already is the 3rd richest man in the world.

I guess he can afford to buy 1,300 acres of land on Kauai for $153 million.

Let’s hope he continues to improve his image on Kauai and is at peace with his neighbors.

I am sure that the Kauai community is grateful for the funds and services he has donated to help the poor and unemployed during the pandemic.

P.S. In late 2021, Zuckerberg added another 110 acres to his Kauai estate. He also donated $50 million to the University of Hawaii to study the impact of climate change on the ocean. And he also donated $1.8 million to Wilcox Memorial Center on Kauai to install 2 new CT scanning machines.

I have visited Kauai 4 times. Twice during the 1980s, and once in 2007 and once in 2008. I might return to the Garden Island some day. David and I have many happy memories there. We even took a helicopter tour of Na Pali in 2007. Click on this link to see photos:

Helicopter tour – 2007 | gigi-hawaii (wordpress.com)

If you ever get a chance to come to Hawaii, please include Kauai on your itinerary. It is a treasure.