Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg Expands Controversial $300 Million Hawaiian Estate After Spending $65 Million on Additional 1,000 Acres

Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly added 1,000 acres of land to his enormous Hawaiian compound—further upsetting locals who have raised concerns about burial grounds they say sit on the site of the businessman’s extraordinary $300 million estate.

According to tech news site Wired, Zuckerberg, 41, and wife Priscilla Chan snapped up 962 acres of ranch land adjacent to their existing property earlier this year, with the outlet stating that a source with knowledge of the sale put the price of the parcel at $65 million.

The purchase—which a spokesperson for Zuckerberg confirmed had taken place while refusing to comment on the size or price of the plot—brings the Meta CEO‘s land holdings on the island of Kauai to a staggering 2,300 acres.

Zuckerberg, who at the time of writing has an estimated net worth of $251 billion, began buying up land on Kauai in 2014, when he and Chan shelled out $100 million for two huge tracts of land on the island’s North Shore with the aim of turning that 700-acre spread into a vacation home for their family.

Since then, the couple has continued their land grab, adding just under 600 acres to their property in 2021—a move that is reported to have cost them $53 million. That same year, they also scooped up an additional 110 acres, this time for $17 million.

According to Zuckerberg’s representative, Brandi Hoffine Barr, the majority of the spread is being used as a conservation site and farming location, with the spokesperson telling Wired: “The vast majority of the land is dedicated to agriculture—including cattle ranching, organic ginger, macadamia nut, and turmeric farming, native plant restoration, and endangered species protection.”

Hoffine Barr added that, after the Zuckerberg clan purchased the ranch, they “canceled the previous owner’s plans” to build “80 luxury homes” on the property.

But while Zuckerberg’s spokespersons have long claimed that much of the land at his so-called Koʻolau Ranch is being used for ranching, farming, and conservation, the billionaire has also found plenty of space to create a sprawling holiday compound for his family to enjoy.

Thus far, the tech mogul has built two mansions on the property, as well as a gym, tennis court, multiple guesthouses, treehouses, and an underground structure that Zuckerberg has previously denied is a “doomsday bunker.”

“No, I think that’s just like a little shelter. It’s like a basement,” he said when asked about the structure—which is said to be the size of an NBA basketball court—during a 2024 interview with Bloomberg.

Zuckerberg doubled down on Hoffine Barr’s insistence that the main focus of the Hawaii ranch is farming and conservation, telling Bloomberg that his aim is to raise “world-class” cattle on the property in a bid to “create some of the highest quality beef in the world.”

While the billionaire may be expanding his conservation efforts, he is also said to be growing his personal compound on the island, according to planning documents reviewed by Wired.

The outlet reports that Zuckerberg has commissioned three more buildings on land he had already purchased on Kauai, which “range in size from 7,820 to 11,152 square feet” and are expected to cost $3.5 million to $4 million each.

Hoffine Barr also confirmed to the publication that there are multiple “short-term” guesthouses being erected for the use of Zuckerberg’s family, friends, and staff.

Certainly, he has more than enough room to house his entire family, inner circle, and a fair few Meta employees, with Wired estimating that the compound will soon be able to “comfortably house more than 100 people,” if and when all of the proposed structures are completed.

Despite Zuckerberg’s commitment to conservation on the island, his plans to expand his compound have drawn criticism from locals, some of whom have raised concerns about the safety of a burial site that sits on a portion of his land.

One local, Julian Ako, told Wired that both his great-grandmother and her brother were buried on a plot that is now owned by Zuckerberg, revealing that he used to regularly visit the spot as a child to pay respects to his ancestors.

However, after the burial site—and its surrounding land—was snapped up by the Facebook founder, he reached out to Zuckerberg to inform him that his ancestors are buried there.

Eventually, after a monthslong discussion with the businessman and his team, Ako was granted access to the site, which was also fenced off to protect the graves, which have since been registered with Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Still, Ako believes that other members of his family may well have been buried in the surrounding lands—yet he has been unable to locate these graves because access to Zuckerberg’s land is restricted.

His fear, he told the publication, is that these additional burial sites may well be uncovered by workers as they carry out the extension of the Facebook founder’s compound—noting that he believes the workers may feel inclined to keep these discoveries a secret out of fear of violating Zuckerberg’s privacy.

“If all of the workers have signed these nondisclosure agreements, then basically they’re sworn to silence,” he said. “If they uncover iwi—or bones—it’s going to be a challenge for that to ever become public knowledge, because they’re putting their jobs in jeopardy.”

When asked about Ako’s fears, Hoffine Barr insisted that all workers who are carrying out construction on Koʻolau Ranch are bound by state regulations that require the discovery of any bones to be reported.

Zuckerberg’s latest property purchase has added yet another multimillion-dollar figure to his already impressive real estate portfolio, which includes homes in Palo Alto, CA, Lake Tahoe, CA, and Washington, D.C.

Much like his Hawaii compound, the billionaire’s Lake Tahoe property has been turned into something of a compound made up of two adjacent properties that he purchased in 2018 and 2019 for a combined $59 million.

One of the homes, known as the Carousel Estate, has already been razed and plans are reportedly in place for a sprawling compound of nearly 10 acres. The plans include a “20,000-square-foot, 35-foot-tall main residence with a timber and glass facade,” along with “a new bunkhouse, a gym, a gatehouse, multiple guesthouses, and offices,” according to Forbes.

Before his latest Hawaii land purchase, Zuckerberg’s most recent buy was a $23 million property in Washington, D.C., which he quietly snapped up in an all-cash deal in March.

The five-bedroom, 7.5-bathroom dwelling, which spans 15,000 square feet and is located in the tony neighborhood of Woodland Normanstone, hit the market on March 3 and sold for its exact asking price just one day later.

In truth, the full extent of Zuckerberg’s property portfolio is hard to ascertain, with almost all of his purchases made through LLCs and trusts to keep their exact details hidden from the public.