Mark Zuckerberg bought 242 acres of an island in Hawaii for $ 53 million

It’s him fifth richest man of the world according to Forbes magazine, with 97,000 million USD. Owns properties in the United States, Palo Alto (Silicon Valley), San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, among others. Now, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook, acquired 242 hectares of an island in Hawaii for 53 million USD, a fact that has already aroused strong criticism from locals, who accused him of wanting colonize the region.

The land he acquired is made up of three plots located north of Kauai, where some live 67,000 people. The CEO of Facebook and his wife, Priscilla chan, thus paid 53 million USD for the hectares of the North Coast Kauai, as reported by the Pacific Business Journall (from Honolulu). Thus, the couple’s total land ownership on the island (which they had previously acquired) reached nearly 526 hectares.

The purchase ended on March 19, 2021 and covers three plots of land, part of which near a public beach called Lepeuli, also known as Larsen Beach. However, it will remain accessible to the public. In addition, Zuckerberg and Chan will cede part of the land to Paradise Ranch, a working cattle ranch, according to a statement the couple saw.

This latest acquisition of 242 hectares was purchased from Waioli Corporation, nail NGO local which preserves the historical places of the island. The president of the non-profit association, Sam pratthe said to the medium SFGate Through a statement last Friday that the couple’s hard work and dedication to the island led to the sale.

Zuckerberg and Chan told Business Insider they are grateful for being given the task of preserving the earth. We have worked closely with various community partners to promote conservation, produce sustainable agriculture and protect the native wildlife of our ranch and surrounding areas, and we hope to expand this effort to Lepeuli (on Kauai) in the coming months, ”they said.

However, the couple’s presence on the island sparked controversy. In 2016, Zuckerberg angered his neighbors by building a 1.80 meter wall around your property with the intention of reducing “road noise”.

A year later, Zuckerberg filed a lawsuit against Hawaiian families who had made legal claims of ownership over plots of land on their property. He said at the time that he had brought an action for “Make sure small partial owners also get their fair share“. But locals described the move as “neocolonialism“.

Zuckerberg ultimately dropped this lawsuit. He noted that he and Chan wanted to “do this right, talk to the community and find a better approach.” While the couple and their two daughters typically live in Palo Alto, Calif., Near Facebook’s headquarters, they visited their home in Hawaii during the pandemic.

They were seen on the island in June 2020, and Zuckerberg, in July of last year in his electric surfboard covered in sunscreen (something that was highlighted on social media) In April of this year, Zuckerberg and Chan donated $ 1 million to Kauai to help the region during the pandemic and, at the start of 2021, they also invested $ 4.2 million in an employment program for residents.

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