Mark Zuckerberg suing Hawaiian land owners in bid to identify property owners on estate

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg made headlines in 2014 when he paid more than $100 million for 700 acres on Kauai, Hawaii. At the time, he sought to create a sanctuary for his family, but nearly three years later, Zuckerberg has shifted his focus to identifying the owners of property scattered in and around his estate to ensure the titles are transferred and the owners are properly compensated.

According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, approximately a dozen small parcels within Zuckerberg’s property are owned by Hawaiian families with rights to “traverse the billionaire’s otherwise private domain.” But Facebook’s CEO has started legal proceedings involving a few hundred people, some of whom are deceased, in an effort to track down the owners. At issue is what’s known as “kuleana lands,” or real estate initially acquired by Hawaiian citizens through a law passed in 1850.

“Often, kuleana lands automatically passed to heirs of the first owner in absence of a will or deed, and then down through subsequent generations of descendants, who in some cases now own just fractions of an interest in the property without documentation,” the Star-Advertiser explained.

Zuckerberg’s three companies, Pilaa International LLC, Northshore Kalo LLC, and High Flyer LLC, filed the lawsuits at the end of December, seeking to persuade the defendants to auction their land to the highest bidder, which would likely be Zuckerberg.

Because some of the land being sought has been passed down from generation to generation, Zuckerberg’s team has done genealogical research to find out who the rightful owners are. Some of the property owners may settle — Hawaii News Now estimates that a contested case could cost at least $200,000.

“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. In some cases, co-owners may not even be aware of their interests. 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,” explained Keoni Shultz, a partner at Cades Schutte LLP, the firm that is representing Zuckerberg.

On Thursday, Zuckerberg published a post seeking to clear up the matter, saying that “the land is made up of a few properties. In each case, we worked with the majority owners of each property and reached a deal they thought was fair and wanted to make on their own.”

“As with most transactions, the majority owners have the right to sell their land if they want, but we need to make sure smaller partial owners get paid for their fair share too,” he continued, explaining that this concept is more complex in Hawaii due to kuleana lands. This is why his legal team filed “quiet title” action which seeks to identify partial owners to inform them of money coming to them for “something they never even knew they had.”

Zuckerberg emphasized that “no one will be forced off the land.”

In a December post, Zuckerberg explained that when he and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, visited the Hawaiian island, he “fell in love with the community and the cloudy green mountains.” The purchase was intended to help them “plant roots and join the community,” and they’ve dedicated themselves to preserving the land’s beauty. The 700 acres are filled with pigs, turtles, birds, seals, and more.

Updated as of 2:38 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday: Updated with statement from Zuckerberg attorney and clarified post accordingly.

Updated as of 1:42 p.m. Pacific on Thursday: Included Zuckerberg statement.