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Billionaires are transforming Hawaii into a tropical paradise for the tech elitehttps://www.businessinsider.in/billionaires-are-transforming-hawaii-into-a-tropical-paradise-for-the-tech-elite/facebooks-mark-zuckerberg-reportedly-shelled-out-over-100-million-for-a-sprawling-estate-on-the-north-shore-of-kauai-in-2014-it-includes-a-pristine-white-sand-beach-/slidelist/57029443.cms2017-02-08T02:00:15+05:30

Billionaires are transforming Hawaii into a tropical paradise for the tech elite

Feb 8, 2017, 02:00 IST

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg reportedly shelled out over $100 million for a sprawling estate on the North Shore of Kauai in 2014. It includes a pristine white sand beach.

The property sits on a former sugarcane plantation, and is now used by local farmers to produce turmeric and other spices and fruits, according to Facebook post from Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla's 1-year old daughter, Max, reportedly gets a kick out of the property's chickens, sheep, baby pig named Porkchop, and endangered albatross.

Paul Allen, the cofounder of Microsoft, owns an entire private island — Allen Island — but that didn't stop the billionaire from also picking up property on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Though the public property records have been wiped, Variety reported Allen dropped $7.5 million on a 10-acre farm in Kailua-Kona called the Thurston Estate.

The property came move-in ready, complete with a 12,000-square-foot main house, living quarters for employees, a private harbor, and a bridge that connects to a small island.

Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, has admitted to spending about a third of his time on his Big Island compound, which he scooped up for $12.5 million in 2000.

The property contains about a dozen structures overlooking piles of black lava rock and the Pacific Ocean. Rock walls forming a perimeter around the compound.

Peter Thiel may flee to New Zealand, where he is a citizen, in the event of an apocalypse. But he also has a home in Hawaii.

The PayPal cofounder spent a whopping $27 million on a 1.7-acre property in Maui in 2011. It's made up of a four interconnected pavilions curled around a courtyard.

Carol Bartz, the ousted CEO of Yahoo, can escape the daily grind in the gated community of Kukio, named the most exclusive neighborhood in Hawaii by Forbes.

Her five-bedroom home sits on a 1,700-square-foot lot surrounded by black lava and a luxury golf course. Only homeowners and guests are allowed past the area's gates.

Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies, owns the reported "crown jewel" of the Kukio development where Bartz vacations. It's known as the "Raptor Residence."

Dell's tropical getaway comprises three lots atop the longest stretch of waterfront in Kukio. The seven-bedroom property is rumored to be worth as much as $64 million.

Even Silicon Valley's richest residents will have a hard time topping Oracle's Larry Ellison, who purchased the island of Lanai for between $300 million and $600 million in 2012.

Ellison, whose net worth tops $49 billion, reportedly bought 98% of the island (population: 3,200) because he wanted to experiment with "environmentally sound ways to live."

Ellison's purchase included two Four Seasons hotels, which the Oracle founder spent years renovating. The royal suite starts at $21,000 a night.

It's unclear how much time Ellison spends on his 141-square-mile slice of paradise.

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