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

https:// www.npr.org /2024/02/28/1232564250/billionaire-benioff-buys-hawaii-land-salesforce

Marc Benioff

He's the CEO and co-founder of San Francisco-based Salesforce, one of the world's largest software companies, which owns the popular messaging service Slack and is worth nearly $300 billion. He also owns Time magazine.

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.

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.

I leave the meeting disconcerted and still unclear about what exactly is happening with his land in Waimea.

The following day, I drive around with a photographer to take pictures of the town and Benioff's projects. We go to the property he described as a community center and are confronted by one of his employees. The photographer explains we're there to take photos of the outside of the building. Shortly afterward, I get a text from Benioff. His employee seemed to think we were "snooping," and he says he's escalating the incident to NPR CEO John Lansing. Lansing confirmed he spoke with Benioff, without going into detail — the NPR newsroom operates independently, and the CEO is not involved in editorial decision-making. Benioff didn't respond to my question about the purpose of this call.

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134 comments

There Is No Such Thing As A Good Billionaire. Every billionaire is a cancerous tumor that needs to be removed from society.

143
The real story is the stupid shit he pulled by trying to bully and intimidate a reporter and a news organization.

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He's buying farmland. Billionares are preparing to profit from the coming climate apocalypse by buying land and water. Marc Benioff isnt the only one. Hawaii is a great idea, niiiice and defensible. the future is gonna be fucking exciting folks, i cannot begin to tell you how terrified i am that we wont kill these fucking punks in time to save ourselves

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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."

So the tech CEO's job is... checks notes ...spying on journalists?

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Are all of the properties connected? When Bill Gates built his house he used a bunch of shell companies to buy up all the lots that became his estate, so that the owners didn't realize there was a big project planned there by the richest man in the world and demand higher prices.

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So this guy is going full Bond villain and no one but this reporter is calling him on it, got it.

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Gee, way to not act suspicious. Guess he is all in on intimidation as a means of control.

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Just what the people of Hawaii need, another rich person snatching up precious land on an island that already has a high cost of living.

CEO is not involved in editorial decision-making

Heh, I love it when a rich idiot gets shut down by some good ol' journalistic ethics. "No, you are not special, Mr. Benioff."

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Shout out to that NPR reporter for not being intimidated

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Volcano lair, obviously.

23
New special sex island?

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Isn't this super obvious, he's going to try to buy the island wholesale make it private and declare tacit sovereignity like he's a dole or some shit.

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He is probably just jealous of Larry Ellison

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Man is he the reason Salesforce has a weird "Hawaiian" theme in their offices.

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Might be worried about domestic conflict, I am, and I think everyone should be pretty concerned about the end of this year.

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Doomsday bunker, there, I solved it!

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Rich people just doing what they always done. Kick indigenous peoples off their land and give them STDs.

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Epstein 2.0?

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