Hawaii

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is buying big chunk of land in Hawaii and nobody knows why

Published

2 years ago

February 29, 2024

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is buying big chunk of land in Hawaii and nobody knows why

Remember the first episode of Schitt’s Creek where Johnny Rose, the billionaire, reveals he bought a town for his son as a joke? It got some of us wondering if anybody would ever do that in real life. Turns out, something similar is happening in Hawaii, where Salesforce CEO is buying up big chunks of land worth millions of dollars. However, while the fictional character Rose had a reason to buy up an entire town and boasted about it in the first episode, Benioff is tight-lipped about his acquisitions.

An investigative report by Dara Kerr for NPR revealed that Benioff has bought at least 38 chunks of land in Hawaii through several anonymous companies since 2000. Even though none of the documentation has Benioff’s name, he isn’t disputing any of it, Kerr added.

Salesforce CEO is buying chunks of Hawaii

The report adds that Benioff bought more than 600 acres in total in Hawaii. In Waimea, he got 29 pieces of land, which is over 580 acres, and nine more pieces, about 25 acres, at beach resorts. One of his coastal properties even goes around a whole public beach. All of this land put together is worth almost USD 100 million.

That’s not all, Benioff is even paying above market value for some pieces of land and the residents in the area are concerned that due to this, housing costs for them would go up.

Even though the residents of Hawaii seem to be concerned about Benioff’s purchasing, they refused to be named in the report. Derr also reported that nobody seems to know what is going on and what is the reason behind the purchases.

She also revealed how Benioff’s demeanor undergoes a shift when has was questioned about the properties held within the anonymous LLCs. His speech quickened, and he nervously began fidgeting with a piece of paper clutched in his hand, Kerr added. In addition to this, his advisor intervened during the interview and suggested a postponement of the discussion to a later time.

However, Kerr added that amidst the hesitation, Benioff did share some insights. He mentioned owning a private ranch equipped with ten horses, where a local family grazes their cattle. Additionally, he disclosed having family members residing in the area and revealed plans to initiate a community meeting center.

But apart from this, there is no clarity about the reasons behind these purchases.

The NPR reporter also revealed how Benioff kept bringing up her personal details in the interview and seemed to know a lot about her. When she tried clicking photographs of a property owned by him from outside, she was stopped by two of his employees and was accused of “snooping around.”

When Benioff went on a digital detox trip

Last year, the Salesforce boss was making headlines when he revealed that he went on a “digital detox trip” after firing thousands of employees. Salesforce fired around 7,000 employees last year which accounted for 10 percent of its workforce at the time.

While talking to The New York Times, Benioff had said back then that he went on a 10 day ‘digital detox’ trip to his favourite place, French Polynesia, after the layoffs announcement.

“We’re so addicted to our devices (at least I am) that it’s very freeing to leave them all behind for a while!” Benioff told The New York Times over text.

The report also mentioned that after the layoffs, he held a virtual company meeting in which he spoke for about two hours. Terming the meeting as a ‘bad idea’, Benioff said, “We were trying to explain the inexplicable.”

He added, “It’s hard to have a call like that with such a large group and have it be effective, and we’ve paid the price for that.”

Published By:

Divyanshi Sharma

Published On:

Feb 29, 2024

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Hawaii

Preserving native habitat, cultural legacy of Maunawili Valley

Published

4 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Preserving native habitat, cultural legacy of Maunawili Valley

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A group of nonprofits are asking the public to help support efforts to return Maunawili Valley to community care.

Dean Wilhelm, co-executive director of Ho’okuaaina, Reyna Ramolete Hayashi, aloha aina project manager at Trust for Public Land, and Kaleo Wong, executive director of Kauluakalana, joined HNN’s Sunrise to talk about more than a decade of work by Hui Maunawili–Kawainui, a coalition of nonprofits and generational ohana to purchase and protect more than 1,000 acres on windward Oahu to benefit the community.

“Our Hoihoi Maunawili fundraising campaign is four nonprofits working together to raise $500,000 for the future stewardship of the land. The nonprofit partners are Kauluakalana, Ho’okua’aina, Hawaii Land Trust, and Trust for Public Land,” Hayashi said.

Nonprofit leaders say Hoihoi Maunawili is working with the current landowner, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, to transfer stewardship of the land.

“These lands include the most fertile growing soil in all Hawaii, important cultural sites, and freshwater streams and springs that will be forever protected. Capital funds have been secured to purchase the land,” Hayashi said.

“This land has sustained generations. By returning it to the community and restoring it for shared use and cultural renewal, we will safeguard resources for future generations and increase our community’s resilience,” Wilhelm said.

“Until the 1960s, this land was very productive. It was the ‘Breadbasket of Oahu.’ Alii specifically would ask for kalo grown on these lands. This effort seeks to return it to its former abundance, ultimately improving local food security and water security through community-led agriculture that strengthens Hawaii food systems and creates green jobs for a sustainable local economy.”

“Buying and protecting the land is only the beginning,” Wong said. “In this season of giving, we are asking the community to join us in this movement to restore water, food, culture and community in Maunawili.”

To donate and learn more, visit hoihoimaunawili.org. The public can also support by volunteering or joining a talk story.

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Hawaii

Rising premiums, reduced subsidies may push Hawaii residents off ACA plans

Published

16 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Rising premiums, reduced subsidies may push Hawaii residents off ACA plans

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Gov. Josh Green predicted Friday that thousands of Hawaii residents may give up their health insurance after Congress did not extend subsidies for Affordable Care Act policies.

Green pledged millions in local taxpayer funds to help them maintain coverage.

Hawaii’s 24,000 Affordable Care Act customers faced uncertainty in December as they had to reenroll without knowing whether extra subsidies would be extended.

Now that the subsidies are ending, customers must find more money or reduce their coverage.

Premium increases force difficult choices

Insurance agent and radio host Martha Khlopin works with about 300 people who depend on ACA premium subsidies.

“People, I think, will be making the decision, taking that risk and just praying they don’t get sick,” Khlopin said. “So I pray that too. Don’t get sick in 2026, because your premiums and co-pays might be a lot.”

As an example, Khlopin cited a 50-year-old man who makes $40,000. He was paying about $170 a month this year for a plan with good coverage. His new plan will cost about $500 a month starting in January.

“It’s a pretty big increase for him,” Khlopin said. “So what he decided to do was just use his savings to cover the premiums because he really needs to keep the very generous platinum plan that he has right now.”

Coverage downgrades expected

Khlopin said others are downgrading their coverage, choosing lower premiums but much higher out-of-pocket costs and deductibles.

“So it’s a lower premium, but you have higher cost because you have to meet a deductible,” Khlopin said, noting that could lead some people to avoid care.

“So if I do need a particular procedure that’s expensive, I might decide not to get that done, which ultimately can cause more problems down the road,” Khlopin said.

Green predicted an even more dire scenario with thousands choosing to go without coverage.

“That’s really bad, because it’s not just the lack of insurance for them. It’s also $150 million of uncompensated care to rural facilities to our community health centers,” Green said.

State tax credit proposal

Green proposed that the state make up the lost subsidies with a state tax credit for about 8,000 ACA customers.

“The analysis we did is that to do the enhanced subsidy that Congress walked away from for now would cost $16.5 million,” Green said.

“That would definitely be a very, very wonderful gift to people to know that there is some relief coming to lower those health insurance premiums,” Khlopin said.

What remains unclear is how quickly that aid could reach policyholders and what will happen to those who decided not to renew when the deadline for open enrollment ended Monday.

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Hawaii

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines expands Hawaii flights from Las Vegas

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines expands Hawaii flights from Las Vegas

Southwest Airlines is adding more routes from Sin City to the Aloha State.

The airline, which is headquartered at Dallas Love Field, will fly from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas to Hilo International Airport starting Aug. 6, 2026. The service will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, pairing with existing service between Las Vegas and Honolulu.

“When I took office, I pledged to strengthen ties with the ‘Ninth Island’ — Las Vegas, where many Hawaiʻi-born residents live,“ Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda said in a statement. ”Southwest’s renewed service shows its dedication. Quicker flights across the Pacific means more convenience for our local families and another chance to support our hometown airline.”

Hawaiian Airlines is Hilo’s dominant carrier, offering more than 105,000 available seats this month, according to Cirium Diio Mi data. Southwest was second, offering more than 54,000 available seats.

“We heard you, Hilo,” Adam Decaire, Southwest’s senior vice president of network planning and network operations control, said in a statement.

“Las Vegas is important to you, and you’re important to us..”

This month, Southwest offered 146 flights between Las Vegas and Honolulu, totaling more than 25,000 available seats, according to data from Diio by Cirium. Southwest first began flights from the western U.S. to Hawaii in 2019. The airline currently flies to the Hawaiian islands from Las Vegas and Phoenix, and from California cities Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego.

Southwest does not operate direct flights to Hawaii from Dallas.

The Hawaii route expansion comes at a time when Southwest is weighing the possibility of building a more than 12,000-square-foot lounge at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, according to documents previously viewed by The Dallas Morning News.