7 ms·

A tech billionaire is quietly buying up land in Hawaii. No one knows why

58 points by makerdiety 3y ago

firebaze 3y ago
https://hn.algolia.com/?query=A%20tech%20billionaire%20is%20quietly%20buying%20up%20land%20in%20Hawaii.%20No%20one%20knows%20why&type=story&dateRange=all&sort=byDate&storyText=false&prefix&page=0 https://hn.algolia.com/?query=A%20tech%20billionaire%20is%20...
andsoitis 3y ago
Benioff, CEO of Salesforce. Used to work for Ellison, CEO of Oracle and who owns 98% of Lanai.
richardgreeko27 3y ago
> A couple of days before the interview, Benioff texted the same NPR colleague again, asking for intel on my story. Then he called me and demanded to know the title of this piece. During that call, he also mentioned he knew the exact area where I was staying. Unnerved, I asked how he knew, and he said, "It's my job. You have a job and I have a job." During the interview, he brings up more personal details about me and my family. Yikes
- candiddevmike 3y ago
  Sounds like the reporter should keep digging. You don't threaten someone for no reason...
  - hughesjj 3y ago
    Sounds like we should all start digging
- AndrewKemendo 3y ago
  How many more examples do people need that this entire class are purely power hungry psychopaths?
  - toomuchtodo 3y ago
    You’ll never talk them out of the belief system.
- dilyevsky 3y ago
  Once again Silicon Valley was too on the nose with their Benioff portrayal https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aP5pt1bvutQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aP5pt1bvutQ
- huytersd 3y ago
  Sounds like benioff was out reporting the reporter
- kelnos 3y ago
  Yeah, I was all ready to go with the interpretation that Benioff is just doing lots of philanthropy, and then that happened. Also: > When I ask Benioff about the properties in the anonymous LLCs, things seem to take a turn. He starts speaking more quickly and fidgets with a piece of paper in his hand. He's reluctant to go through the holdings, and his adviser on the Zoom call jumps in to say we can discuss later. It would be one thing to say, with conviction "I'm not ready to talk about those just yet, but when I am, I'll get back in touch". But to get cagey to the point that your advisor interjects and changes the subject? Not great.
wukkawakka 3y ago
[dead]
hattmall 3y ago
Because he's a billionaire... So why not. He has more money than a can reasonably be spent.
philipwhiuk 3y ago
Doomerism
beretguy 3y ago
Haven’t read article, but maybe cause he wants to have entire island for himself?
macinjosh 3y ago
By the time you have billions money is pointless to hold endlessly. Land is something you can buy that no one else can say they have the same. Take that to the max and you want land where land is scarce and desireable. Hawaii is a perfect fit.
dr_kiszonka 3y ago
He controls ~81,967 times more wealth than an average American. (I am assuming the median wealth in the US is $122,000). I know that this is controversial but maybe there should be a cap on this metric. I don't know what it should be and how to implement it, but such concentration of wealth, and consequently power, can be dangerous.
sfmz 3y ago
Simulations of ww3 are usually China vs USA... and directly between them is Hawaii... not smart. Zuckerberg and Benioff should be buying Patagonia or something.
- DamnYuppie 3y ago
  China has no capacity to project any power into the pacific. They are pinned in on all sides by US and her allies bases.
  - sinuhe69 3y ago
    China bought many a naval bases in the Pacific. They have a developed fleet including aircraft carriers and intercontinental missiles. They also have their own spy satellites constellation and has the technology and money to expand them. How come that they can not project their power to the Pacific?
    - xetplan 3y ago
      The biggest reason is because it is a recent ambition. The US Navy on the other hand had to fight the Philippine-American War in 1899. There is also no point in talking about forces in separation. There is a unification with the air force. To me, to really understand the US Military, look up the B-2 spirit videos on youtube and look up the 4.5 megaton explosion video on youtube. The full fleet of B-2 spirit have about 116 of 4 megaton explosions. These are 1 megaton bombs though so they have 400+ of those. 400 megaton bombs being dropped by an invisible UFO. Then force projection to do what? Invade the US? We have enough guns to arm every man, woman and child in the US. It is estimated there are 12 billion rounds of ammunition sold in the US every year. It is fun to talk about these things in the abstract but all out war with the US is basically delusional. The PLA has done an amazing job of catch up but to surpass the US you have to become the most deadly unified force that has ever existed. That is no easy task and Americans love war. There is not that many years in America's existence that it was not involved in war in some way.
      - 3y ago
pyuser583 3y ago
This doesn’t seem big. The guy doing it is open about who he is. He resides locally. When he starts building he’ll have to file for a permit, and presumably explain his intentions. The guy has native spiritual advisors (plural!).
mock-possum 3y ago
His behavior in response to the interview says he’s feeling guilty about something. Wonder what the real story is.

58 points by makerdiety 3y ago

https://hn.algolia.com/?query=A%20tech%20billionaire%20is%20quietly%20buying%20up%20land%20in%20Hawaii.%20No%20one%20knows%20why&type=story&dateRange=all&sort=byDate&storyText=false&prefix&page=0 https://hn.algolia.com/?query=A%20tech%20billionaire%20is%20...

andsoitis 3y ago

Benioff, CEO of Salesforce. Used to work for Ellison, CEO of Oracle and who owns 98% of Lanai.

richardgreeko27 3y ago

> A couple of days before the interview, Benioff texted the same NPR colleague again, asking for intel on my story. Then he called me and demanded to know the title of this piece. During that call, he also mentioned he knew the exact area where I was staying. Unnerved, I asked how he knew, and he said, "It's my job. You have a job and I have a job." During the interview, he brings up more personal details about me and my family. Yikes

candiddevmike 3y ago
Sounds like the reporter should keep digging. You don't threaten someone for no reason...
- hughesjj 3y ago
  Sounds like we should all start digging
AndrewKemendo 3y ago
How many more examples do people need that this entire class are purely power hungry psychopaths?
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  You’ll never talk them out of the belief system.
dilyevsky 3y ago
Once again Silicon Valley was too on the nose with their Benioff portrayal https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aP5pt1bvutQ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aP5pt1bvutQ
huytersd 3y ago
Sounds like benioff was out reporting the reporter
kelnos 3y ago
Yeah, I was all ready to go with the interpretation that Benioff is just doing lots of philanthropy, and then that happened. Also: > When I ask Benioff about the properties in the anonymous LLCs, things seem to take a turn. He starts speaking more quickly and fidgets with a piece of paper in his hand. He's reluctant to go through the holdings, and his adviser on the Zoom call jumps in to say we can discuss later. It would be one thing to say, with conviction "I'm not ready to talk about those just yet, but when I am, I'll get back in touch". But to get cagey to the point that your advisor interjects and changes the subject? Not great.

wukkawakka 3y ago

[dead]

hattmall 3y ago

Because he's a billionaire... So why not. He has more money than a can reasonably be spent.

philipwhiuk 3y ago

Doomerism

beretguy 3y ago

Haven’t read article, but maybe cause he wants to have entire island for himself?

macinjosh 3y ago

By the time you have billions money is pointless to hold endlessly. Land is something you can buy that no one else can say they have the same. Take that to the max and you want land where land is scarce and desireable. Hawaii is a perfect fit.

dr_kiszonka 3y ago

He controls ~81,967 times more wealth than an average American. (I am assuming the median wealth in the US is $122,000). I know that this is controversial but maybe there should be a cap on this metric. I don't know what it should be and how to implement it, but such concentration of wealth, and consequently power, can be dangerous.

sfmz 3y ago

Simulations of ww3 are usually China vs USA... and directly between them is Hawaii... not smart. Zuckerberg and Benioff should be buying Patagonia or something.

DamnYuppie 3y ago
China has no capacity to project any power into the pacific. They are pinned in on all sides by US and her allies bases.
- sinuhe69 3y ago
  China bought many a naval bases in the Pacific. They have a developed fleet including aircraft carriers and intercontinental missiles. They also have their own spy satellites constellation and has the technology and money to expand them. How come that they can not project their power to the Pacific?
  - xetplan 3y ago
    The biggest reason is because it is a recent ambition. The US Navy on the other hand had to fight the Philippine-American War in 1899. There is also no point in talking about forces in separation. There is a unification with the air force. To me, to really understand the US Military, look up the B-2 spirit videos on youtube and look up the 4.5 megaton explosion video on youtube. The full fleet of B-2 spirit have about 116 of 4 megaton explosions. These are 1 megaton bombs though so they have 400+ of those. 400 megaton bombs being dropped by an invisible UFO. Then force projection to do what? Invade the US? We have enough guns to arm every man, woman and child in the US. It is estimated there are 12 billion rounds of ammunition sold in the US every year. It is fun to talk about these things in the abstract but all out war with the US is basically delusional. The PLA has done an amazing job of catch up but to surpass the US you have to become the most deadly unified force that has ever existed. That is no easy task and Americans love war. There is not that many years in America's existence that it was not involved in war in some way.
    - 3y ago

pyuser583 3y ago

This doesn’t seem big. The guy doing it is open about who he is. He resides locally. When he starts building he’ll have to file for a permit, and presumably explain his intentions. The guy has native spiritual advisors (plural!).

mock-possum 3y ago

His behavior in response to the interview says he’s feeling guilty about something. Wonder what the real story is.