Is Hawaii benefiting from these billionaires who live full or part-time in the islands?
57 thoughts on “Billionaires Bezos, Zuckerberg, Oprah and Ellison Pony Up Big In Hawaii”
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Home » Blog » Culture and Events » Billionaires Bezos, Zuckerberg, Oprah and Ellison Pony Up Big In Hawaii
All we can do is hope they have the majority of the residents best interest in mind. Let’s not privatize or trash the Islands.
As a Hawaiian, whose family (Ohana) along with the vast majority of Hawaiians protested the annexation of Hawaii, an Independent Nation, by the United States in 1898, it is sad seeing our lands being sold. Nobody talks about Justice for the Hawaiian people and our Nation. Try that topic on national TV Oprah, Bezos and Zuckerberg, who now owns my Ohana lands in Waipake Kauai that we had under the Hawaiian Kingdom taken by the supreme court of the territory of Hawaii in 1906. So much for Aloha.
I believe its easier to just share a story i found interesting.
propublica.org/article/the-government-promised-to-return-ancestral-hawaiian-land-then-never-finished-the-job/
True there should also be reservations for Hawaiians where they can govern they’re land as the please and large communities not HOA regulated homesteads. But I have no say people that have little money don’t matter in todays world.
And may I also point out that no matter how much billionaires “pony up” (enriching the pockets of mostly non-native sellers & making large donations to non-profit social assistance organizations…which thankfully some of them kindly did), they will never be able to own & restrict access to our beaches. Period!
I keep hearing that the Beezos property and the beach is all private. I have swam out to that beach many times. Now we have a legally private beach on Maui? Am I dreaming? It’s like Waimanalo blues.
At some point these new, outsider billionaires need to reach a saturation point with their land acquisition goals. If that’s not in their game plan then they should consider doing so. It is unseemly to acquire properties costing double & triple digit millions of dollars when Native Hawaiians and others who have been living in the islands for generations are unable to afford their own properties with which to establish & raise their own families.
Maybe they can solve the homeless and affordable housing problem with building homes on the land they own next to where they live. Hoarding land just makes it harder for those that need a home. I am in favor of private land planning that address the need.
Weren’t the Mirikatani forced to sell off a lot of their land decades ago for buying too much? I know that Mark Zuckerberg wanted to buy native land and wall it off as his own some years back. That’s sickening…
Hawaii should have laws in place voted by the people that prevent any one person organization or business from owning that much land. Owning 98% of an island county or 1500 acres of coastal property is so unnessary offensive and basically robbing Hawaiians of land. It doesn’t matter how much they give to charitable organizations. They fail to realize that land here is sacred, belongs to the people with not all that much to share.
Would you rather see the rich buy & preserve the land & donante millions to causes the local government can’t, or won’t solve- or should they develop it to make even more money?
Unfortunately, as in Ellison’s case, they can do both. The positive thing he provides jobs to a few thousand people in the process, but then again he can control and limit the population. Is that really ethical or moral?
Compared to regular ‘Joe’s’ like you and I – these mega rich give only a tiny percentage of their income to charity. Most of it is for tax write offs. One of the few rich people who actually GAVE was Paul Newman with his ‘Newman’s Own Brand’ that gives all profits to charity. Now, that is giving. Too bad more celebs don’t do something like that. All these ‘rich and infamous’ could fund so many worthy causes if they truly cared. newmansownfoundation.org/
I agree with Colleen in that most who donate are doing it as a write-off for their own benefit. Don’t get me wrong–I’m sure the money is welcomed by the receivers but it’s still annoying for the ulterior motives. And I love Oprah but only $100,000? Really? For the “Queen of Maui” that’s probably her pocket change!
They’re all idiots. But wouldn’t it be amazing if one of them could somehow get elected as mayor and / or governor??? Would be nice to have someone with a clue about how to run a profitable business behind the wheel for a change.
I personally am not sure their buying up so much land in Hawaii is any different then when the Japanese were buying up much land there. is this so no one else will be able to ever be able to afford a home there on any island? I am curious as I love the islands and have been visiting since the early 80s. I cant afford to buy there but love to spend as much time as possible and so do many others. I hope the Hawaiian people are benefiting from the acquisition of so much land.