Oracle's Larry Ellison buys private Hawaii island for $636 million
"Islands are the new super yachts "
Featured commentThe Maui News reports that Oracle founder Larry Ellison has bought an island in Hawaii for between $US500 and $US600 million ($NZ636 and $NZ763 million).
The 365 square kilometer Lanai - Hawaii's sixth largest island - is currently owned by billionaire David Murdock (whose situation as a seller vaguely mirrors that of George Clooney in the recent Hollywood movie The Descendants).
But a deal is likely to be signed by the end of the week, handing control to Mr Ellison, according to Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie.
Lanai has a population of 3200 and is best known for its pineapple plantations.
Mr Murdock's company, Castle & Cooke, owns 98% of Lanai, and is the island's primary employer through the hotels, golf courses, water utilities and other businesses under its control.
Castle & Cooke is losing as much as $US40 million a year, according to local media.
The company recently gained approval to build a wind farm over 52 square kilometres of Lanai. It planned to export power to the larger island of Oahu through an undersea cable.
Mr Ellison (67) is the CEO and founder of US-based multinational software company Oracle, one of the contenders to land the $1 billion contract to rebuild IRD's systems.
He is rated sixth on Forbes' global billionaire's list, with an estimated worth of $36 billion.
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Comments and questions13
I'm thinking New Zealand could sell Larry Stewart Island. Or maybe Pakatoa.
Stewart Is. is the better one. Instead of canning pineapples, Larry could can mutton birds instead.
Or the South Island
Or maybe Watchman island. He could build a wind farm on that and supply power to Auckland.
Islands are the new super yachts.
Let him buy the south island .Get us all out of the s**t
Notwithstanding my Crusader ancestry, would be very happy if Larry bought the so called "Mainland" (such arrogance) , and helped them to eventually pay their own way in life
Why not go all the way, and sell him the whole country. Get's rid of politicians as a bonus as well!
If Larry came here we would get faster broadband, like they have in Singapore.
Hear hear! Larry Ellison Inc. as owner of NZ would be fantastic. He doesn't suffer fools and gets on and gets things done. The loosers would have no place here (so they could all go to Oz ) and the go getters would thrive, so this wee country would take off. Bring it on.
Nice island Larry! Great for your sailing team Sorry to tell you though Larry but Aotearoa is NOT for sale, neither is Te Waiponamu or Stewart Island, not for any price.
They belong, to the people occupying them, collectively as guardians of the land for future generations of it's occupiers descendants primarily.
Let's just hope he tears down that environment polluting --noise and visual -- scrap heap of occasionally turning wind propellers and returns the island to its former pristine status.
No wonder the silly old fart who had it before was going under.
Look for some geothermal renewable power instead, Larry.
That what makes me sad and mad the same time. So much money could be spend on poor kids in Africa for example or some medical research! This is a real world crisis! When a single country bankrupts and one man buys an island for himself..