Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has increased his property in Hawaii to about 44 acres. For this, he put $ 17 million on the table. It has also been criticized many times by the local people.

Facebookfounded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla, added about 44 acres to their Hawaiian estate. For this the couple spent 17 million US dollars (about 15 million euros). This comes from a report in the “Guardian”.

Zuckerberg’s estate is located on the island of Kauai and so far covers about 600 hectares. Kaloko Reservoir is also located in the newly acquired part. When the dam broke in 2006, 400 million liters of water were released, killing seven people.

Zuckerberg’s spokesman Ben LaBault said the couple wanted to meet all legal requirements for promotion and protection. Zuckerberg plans to farm the land and raise cattle.

There is trouble even before neighbors

There have been disputes with neighbors in the past as well. In 2016, Zuckerberg erected a stone wall nearly two meters high around his property, which also blocked access to the public beach, residents complained about.

Zuckerberg caused renewed sensation a year later when he tried to remove interference by filing a lawsuit. Because when he bought the property, some parcels were not for sale. The peculiarity of local real estate law ensured that they remained in the possession of local families, however, they had no official ownership. Zuckerberg tried to take legal action against it.

Locals accuse Zuckerberg of neo-colonialism

Residents then started a petition accusing Zuckerberg of “neo-colonialism”. Kapua Sprout, a law professor at the University of Hawaii, told the Guardian at the time: “For Hawaiians and natives, the land is an ancestor. It’s a grandparent.” Zuckerberg eventually dropped the lawsuit.

In addition to the Hawaii property, Zuckerberg also owns 560 acres and ten homes on Palo Alto, San Francisco, and Lake Tahoe. The property is valued at 320 million US dollars (about 282 million euros) according to the “Guardian”.