If you're like billionaires Richard Branson or Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, buying an island and claiming it to be your personal paradise is just another way to invest in happiness.
Ellison has bought about 98% of Lana'I, the sixth-largest island in Hawaii. That's 140 square miles of personal getaway, confirmed by Hawaii's governor, but no one's talking about how much it went for just yet. And it just happens to be more than 1,000 times larger than Branson's Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.
Oracle CEO buys Hawaiian island
The package deal includes two luxury resorts, two golf courses, two clubhouses and 88,000 acres of land, according to a document filed with the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission. It's also full of gorgeous scenery and pineapples as well. Some residents have said they hope that Ellison, who has a deep love of nature, will give the island an economic lift.
If you could buy any island, which one would it be? What would you do with it, and how would you use it?
And what if you don't have to be a billionaire to buy, or even rent, one?
While most private islands certainly aren't cheap, Little Monkey Caye in the Caribbean is listed for $55,000 on the Caribbean Island Brokers's website. And there is no shortage of real estate sites with private islands for sale or rent.
Others have bought their own island escapes before as well, and you can rent them for a hefty nightly fee.
I'm a celebrity, rent my island!
Billionaire magician and illusionist David Copperfield has a little piece of perfection in the Bahamas.
Marlon Brando bought an atoll, Tetiaroa, in French Polynesia that he discovered while checking out locations for the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty."
And Keith Richards and Bruce Willis are just a couple of the celebrities who have homes on the private island of Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean.
More on islands:
Heavenly Hawaii: Dos and don'ts
10 things to do on Oahu for $10 or less
Tahiti and French Polynesia on a budget
How to pick the right Greek island for you
10 islands to see before your die
Share your private island dream with us in the comments below.
I'd buy Australia
Hawaii..
This is painful news to Oracle employees who are having to struggle make his products on twelve year old outdated systems. There is no support from local vendors, and of the ones who are willing to help, they're two hours away. Oracle sends them a lengthy contract of legalities, makes someone wait there for the parts and makes them wait 45 days for payment. Who can do business like that? And how hard can it be to please update equipment?
no doubt it would be KAUAI... other islands don't compare..
Yeah, Kauai is pretty awesome
Wow! Its hard to decide....so idk!
I'd buy North America!
WHAT? What do you mean it's NOT an island??? I want it and I'm spoiled so there!
LOL...
I'd buy Guam. 'Nuff said.
in this difficult time people are struggling to put food on table for their families. Its such a shame to see people using the money this way. I am not using Oracle product any more.!!
Get real. Lots of people buy property. He can afford more, he bought more. In this case the 'incidental expenses' that go with buying a house include jobs for all those working in the resorts, all the goods and services needed to run them, and undoubtedly some new construction and expansion PLUS, hopefully, preserving the environment from less environmentally concerned developers and increasing tax revenues as the island generates more business and consumption. In other words the whole state benefits from this 1 percenter doing, at a larger scale, exactly what most other productive members of society do at thier own economic level.
Such a tough choice....
If I wanted riches, I would go for Treasure Island.
If I wanted hot Amazonians I would go for Themyscira.
Then there is Yoshi's Island: it speaks for itself 🙂
or...
Fantasy Island were all your wildest dreams come true!
I wouldn't want to responsibility of owning an island.
Just give me the money and let me live comfortably until the day I die.
The island is all yours.
Another example of the greed that is plaguing our world. How many jobs does this ego tripping create? The rest of the world can go to waste as long as these sacred few have their little niche to run to and hide. I hope for a giant tsunami to bring him a taste of what the rest of us have had to endure.
Agreed. Or better yet, a plate shift that sends his 140 acres crashing into the the Pacific, along with 300,000 cubic tons of motlen lava, with him there trapped and unable to leave.
Let's see... the money behind it comes from the jobs he's created at Oracle. His investment is preserving jobs at two large resorts and all the jobs supporting their needs. Also probably some construction jobs and longer term positions as he does whatever he has planned for the island. Plus increased tax revenue for the state and improvements in the island's infrastructure as a result. I'm not sure what the occupied with nothing better crowd would prefer, maybe handouts to further encourage the nonproductive, but what he's doing with his personal money does in fact help a lot of people out there who actually earn their keep.
Mine would be an uncharted island where all bobcats would be free to roam as they please. There would be fields of catnip so we could experience the euphoria of enlightenment forever. We would allow some dogs, but only as our servants. We would section off one very large area of beach for a litter box so we could experience the serenity of the waves lapping on the shore as we relieved ourselves. The wind would be so gentle that it would never aggravate us by ruffling our fur. Ah yes, that would be the cats meow.
I don't know but I'd probably let dinosaurs roam free. Pierce Brosnan your invited to the island.
Iceland. Hands down
agreed, at least north atlantic. everybody goes to the carribean but i think the colder waters are the most beautiful. plus, you get those awesome warm water lagoons!
Ireland, hands down.