What do you do when you’re worth $36 billion, want to splash out on something a little indulgent, and another supercar to sit alongside your McLaren F1 just won’t cut it? If you’re Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle, then you buy a 98-percent share in the Hawaiian island Lanai.
The asking price is said to be between $500 and $600 million, which despite being an eye-watering amount, doesn’t really make much of a dent in Ellison’s bank balance. Lanai is the six largest Hawaiian island, and is home to two luxurious Four Seasons resorts (where the picture above was taken) and around 3,200 people.
Ellison has bought his stake in Lanai, which has a dreamy 47 miles of coastline, from fellow rich guy David Murdock, who found himself owning most of the island when he purchased the Castle & Cooke company in the mid 80s.
Despite only being accessible by helicopter or small plane, the island attracts 26,000 visitors each quarter, and it was the location for another particularly rich person’s wedding in 1994, when Bill and Melinda Gates tied the knot at one of the Four Seasons’ hotels.
Mr. Ellison joins a surprisingly long list of people who own their own island getaways, finding himself in the company of, amongst many others, Sir Richard Branson, Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson, Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateshitz and Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway.
The mayor of Lanai told the BBC that he hoped Ellison would “be considerate to the island’s residents,” while Hawaii’s governor said he “looks forward to welcoming Mr Ellison in the near future.”
The BBC’s report also says that the island’s projects — such as the hotels, utilities and businesses — are losing $40 million a year at the moment, so it must be hoped Ellison’s involvement will do something to turn its fortunes around. The transfer of ownership must still be approved, and the first vote is scheduled for June 26.
Oracle hit the news recently after a California jury found Android had not infringed on any Java patents, after Ellison’s company filed a $2.6 billion lawsuit against Google in 2011.
Maybe I’m just terribly ignorant on the legalities of purchasing major landmasses, but what does this mean for the 3,200 people currently living on the island? Given that Ellison now owns “a 98-percent share” in the place, is he not the de facto ruler? Like, if Ellison were to, on a whim, demand that every indigenous home erect a shrine including his image, a dozen blood red candles and a slaughtered goat (to bolster his dark powers), would the residents have to do that?
And if not, what’s the fun in buying an island?
..or even break it off into its own state??
Is this a old medieval English landlord situation here?
As far as I understand it, these people are now his employees, and have already been issued their standard-issue henchmen jumpsuits. As Lanai has a solar energy plant, it seems obvious Ellison wants to become the tech world’s Scaramanga, The question is, who will be tech’s James Bond to go and stop him?