Zuckerberg wants to pay native Hawaiians to get off his 700-acre estate

Zuckerberg wants to pay native Hawaiians to get off his 700-acre estate

Mark Zuckerberg is suing hundreds of people in Hawaii in his effort to create a secluded island.

The billionaire spent US$100 million (S$142.8 million) purchasing 700 acres of land in the island of Kauai back in 2014 and is still dealing with the fact that he doesn't actually have the exclusive rights to all of it.

Sounds nasty, right?

It is common in Hawaii to have small parcels of land within the boundaries of a larger tract, and for the title to these smaller parcels to have become broken or clouded over time," Keoni Shultz, partner at Cades Schutte LLP and a lawyer on behalf of Zuckerberg, wrote in a statement emailed to Mashable.

"Quiet title actions are the standard and prescribed process to identify all potential co-owners, determine ownership, and ensure that, if there are other co-owners, each receives appropriate value for their ownership share," the statement continued.

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The process is fair, by Hawaiian law, but it isn't easy for native owners.

If a judge decides on an auction, it's clear who will win out.

"The person being sued is ultimately on the defensive," Donald Eby, a real estate attorney and partner in the Colorado law firm Robinson & Henry, told Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Zuckerberg's 700 acres includes about a dozen small parcels, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

These families have a right to live in and traverse the property.

Given the lawsuits, Zuckerberg clearly doesn't want it that way.

He does however want people to be compensated.

Zuckerberg has no intent to contest the owners who can prove their interest and wants to make sure that the property owners are duly compensated, according to a Mashable source familiar with the matter.

Read the full article here


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