Mark Zuckerberg dropped millions on even more Kauai property in Hawaii – SF Gate

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan recently bought 110 more acres on the island of Kauai. This is an addition to the 700 acres he bought in 2014 for nearly $100 million and the 600 acres he bought in April for $53 million.

Zuckerberg’s properties are on Kauai’s north shore in portions of the ahupuaa Pilaa, Waipake and Lepeuli. The Koolau Ranch, which is what Zuckerberg and Chan call their Hawaii estate, currently has cattle and horses, a nursery, organic ginger farm and turmeric farm. Ben LaBolt, Chan-Zuckerberg family office spokesperson, said the majority of the land is dedicated to sustainable farming and ranching operations.

According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Zuckerberg bought the 110 acres through his Kaloko LLC company for $17 million. The former sugar plantation land includes most of the Ka Loko Reservoir, which was previously owned by the Pflueger family. The family’s patriarch, the late James “Jimmy” Pflueger, was a prominent auto dealer and opened the United States’ first Honda dealership in Hawaii.

In 2006, the Ka Loko Reservoir dam broke, sending 300 million gallons downhill and killing seven people. At the age of 87, Jimmy Pflueger pleaded no contest and was sentenced to seven months for reckless endangering. He died in 2017.

The dam has remained unrepaired since the tragedy, but LaBolt said in a statement that the couple is committed to safety.

“Mark and Priscilla continue to make their home at Koolau Ranch. They are committed to preserving the land at Pilaa’s beauty and rural character and the agricultural dedication has been extended as part of their efforts to prevent future development,” LaBolt said in the statement.

“Mark and Priscilla have worked closely with a number of community partners to operate a working ranch, promote conservation, produce sustainable agriculture and protect wildlife and look forward to expanding their efforts to include this additional property.”

“This property includes a portion of the Kaloko Reservoir, which currently has a storage capacity of about 50MG as compared to the 450MG at the time of the 2006 dam breach,” LaBolt continued. “Mark and Priscilla are committed to doing their part to fulfill the legal requirements regarding the reservoir and promote safety.”

Zuckerberg previously faced backlash for filing lawsuits to gain ownership of several small parcels of land, called kuleana lands, in a quiet title dispute — a legal process that lets a judge decide ownership and can sometimes result in an auction to the highest bidder. 

Kuleana lands were designated in the 1850s to makaainana (citizens who worked the land) and were intended to be passed down to their descendants. However, these lands produced generations of descendants, resulting in land being divided into fractions, some without a clear ownership title, and some descendants not knowing they have ownership rights. This leaves many kuleana lands vulnerable to the quiet title process, resulting in much of the kuleana lands being controlled by large landowners. 

Zuckerberg later apologized, claimed cultural ignorance and withdrew the lawsuits. He wrote an op-ed in the local Kauai newspaper, stating, “We reached out to families on Kauai and off island to discuss this directly. After that, we initiated the quiet title process to identify any other partial owners so we could also pay them their fair share.”

“Upon reflection” he continued, “I regret that I did not take the time to fully understand the quiet title process and its history before we moved ahead. Now that I understand the issues better, it’s clear we made a mistake.”

In recent months, Zuckerberg donated $4.85 million to the Kauai Habitat for Humanity for the construction of affordable housing units. He also helped to save the 102-acre Alekoko Fishpond, aka Menehune Fishpond, by giving a $4 million donation to the Hawaii Land Trust to purchase. The fishpond was then turned over to local nonprofit Malama Huleia (unaffiliated with Zuckerberg) which will continue stewarding it in perpetuity.