Confirmed: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg paying more than $100 million for Kauai property

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has purchased two massive, adjacent chunks of land on Kauai’s North Shore in an effort to create a secluded 700-acre sanctuary for his family, sources have confirmed to Forbes. All told, the 30-year-old billionaire has spent in excess of $100 million to acquire the land, and he hasn't even built a house yet.

The first acquisition is Pila’a Beach, an isolated, 393-acre parcel with a gorgeous white sand beach. Property records show that an entity called Pila’a International LLC paid $49.8 million for an 89.2% stake (or about 350 acres) in the property on September 12. Pila’a International, LLC has an office in Woodbridge, Conn. The property was not officially listed, but was being shopped discreetly as a "pocket

listing."

Zuckerberg’s second acquisition is the adjacent Kahu’aina Plantation, a 357-acre former sugarcane plantation that has been off-and-on-the market for a few years, most recently listed for $70 million. That property features 2,500 feet of oceanfront and a working organic farm. The sale price has not yet been recorded at the county, but local reporter Duane Shimogawa of Pacific Business News pegs it at about $66 million. Sources tell Forbes his reporting is accurate.

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Though the Facebook billionaire brought an unusually lengthy non-disclosure agreement along on his property shopping trip, the fact that he bought land on Kauai’s North Shore is a well-known secret on the island. Last year, when Zuckerberg dined at burger joint Bubba Burgers he made the local paper’s front page.

“We don’t comment on rumors and speculation, but thank you for reaching out!” a Facebook spokesperson said.

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Mark Zuckerberg paid a reported $66 million for the 357-acre Kahu’aina Plantation, a former su …

Zuckerberg purchased Pila’a Beach from Pflueger Properties, a Hawaii limited partnership belonging to Jim Pflueger, a retired local Honda dealer. Last year Pflueger reportedly pled no contest to felony reckless endangerment after seven people were killed in a 2006 collapse of a dam on his property.

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The Pila’a Beach property consists of five separate parcels, each which could be developed into private homes. Sources tell Forbes that Zuckerberg plans to build just one home on the parcels. But he will have one neighbor, Denver executive Gary Stewart of Melange International, who purchased the remaining 10.8% interest in the property for $6.04 million under the name Koa Kea International LLC, according to property records. Sources tell Forbes that the billionaire tried to buy Stewart out, but that the oil exec wasn’t interested. Stewart did not respond immediately to Forbes’ inquiry about the property.

But the 30-year-old tech executive is having better luck buying out what a source says are as many as two dozen “kuleanas,” or small plots of landlocked land within the greater 357 acres that is Kahu’aina Plantation. Kuleanas are plots of land that often house basic, even ramshackle huts, many without electricity, which have been passed down through families over generations. They are generally used as rustic weekend or vacation spots, although some people live on them full-time. Zuckerberg is said to be paying large sums for these tiny plots of land, so that his compound can be totally private.
The Kahu’aina Plantation had been approved for up to 80 homes, so Zuckerberg’s buy seems designed to fend off potential neighbors. The seller of the plantation is San Mateo, Calif.-based Falko Partners, which is reportedly owned by a Hawaii landowner named Larry Bowman.

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The property features 2,500 feet of oceanfront as well as a working organic farm.

Zuckerberg has a net worth of $32.2 billion at the time of this story.

Corrections and amplifications: The original article implied that "kuleanas" were the residences on landlocked plots of land within a bigger parcel. "Kuleanas" actually refers to the land rights themselves. Also, a beach was referred to as "private"; Hawaii has no beaches that are not open to the public.