Mark Zuckerberg Buys 600 Acres on Kauai in $53 Million Deal

The Facebook founder and his wife now own more than 1,300 acres on the Hawaiian island.

By V.L. Hendrickson | Mansion Global

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Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan purchased close to 600 acres of land on the Hawaiian island of Kauai for $53 million in a March deal, according to public records.

The Facebook founder and his wife bought the swath of land in three separate transactions, records show. The acreage is located in the northeastern part of the Garden Island and was owned by a local conservation organization, the Waioli Corp.

The land was purchased through Lepeuli LLC, which is registered in Delaware and tied to a limited liability company in San Francisco, Square Seven Management, according to deeds on record with the Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances. That company is controlled by Iconiq Capital, an investment firm that specializes in advising tech executives, including Mr. Zuckerberg.

Ms. Chan and Mr. Zuckerberg—whose net worth is $117 billion, according to Forbes—acquired about 700 acres of land in the region in 2014 for more than $100 million, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2019. Parts of their estate have been embroiled in a feud involving the rights over Kuleana lands, which were granted to native Hawaiian families in the mid-1800s and have been passed down.

The couple has been developing a ranch on some of the land they already own. They intend to be “mindful” of the conservation efforts of the Waioli Corp., according to a statement about the sale.

“Waioli does essential work promoting conservation and cultural preservation and we are mindful of their legacy with regard to this land,” Ms. Chan and Mr. Zuckerberg said in a joint statement.“We have been working closely with a number of community partners to promote conservation, produce sustainable agriculture and protect native wildlife at our ranch and in the surrounding areas and look forward to extending that effort to Lepeuli in the months ahead.”

For its part, the Waipoli Corp. said the sale will help future preservation efforts.

"The decision provides Waioli with the financial ability to be able to continue our critical conservation and historical work and ensure that Kauai’s cultural history continues to be shared in the community for years to come," Waipoli Corp. President Sam Pratt said in a statement. Pacific Business News first reported the deal.