Mark Zuckerberg is constructing a $397 million compound in Hawaii that seems to be more than a family home. With blast-proof doors, an enormous underground bunker, and fortress-like security, the extravagant compound seems seems to be ready for a lot more than vacations.
There’s nothing subtle about Silicon Valley billionaire Zuckerberg’s efforts to transform over 500 hectares of pristine Kauai coastline into a secluded doomsday retreat for his family.
Critics contend Zuckerberg has overridden ancient indigenous property rights and indulged an extreme passion for privacy that seems hypocritical coming from someone who earned their fortune monetizing people’s personal information.
The sprawling compound will include two large mansions, over a dozen guesthouses, and more than 30 bedrooms and bathrooms.
The two main mansions have a combined floor area approaching the size of an American football field.
The two main mansions have a combined floor area approaching the size of an American football field.
Other highlights are a full gym, tennis court, pools, and an elaborate underground bunker with living space, a mechanical room, and an emergency escape hatch. The bunker door is built to military-grade anti-blast specifications.
Security is unparalleled, with a vast camera network and keypad-operated interior doors. Some doors are even disguised as walls. The compound will be entirely self-sufficient with its own water storage, solar power, and agricultural production.
But Zuckerberg’s intense secrecy around the project has angered locals. Workers must sign strict non-disclosure agreements, a long rock wall blocks coastal views, and guards monitor the beach below. Some feel the once-pristine shore now resembles a “prison camp.”
While other celebrities own discreet Kauai homes, Zuckerberg’s compound is viewed as an invasive colonization of sacred land where private property rights didn't exist until the mid-1800s.
After buying the initial 283-hectare estate, Zuckerberg sued hundreds of native Hawaiians who potentially had ancestral claims on sections of the land. He insisted this was to pay them fairly, but locals saw it as highly confrontational.
Though Zuckerberg later dropped the lawsuits, he's still accused of improperly pressuring land sales. His donations to local causes are seen as buying goodwill after Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal.
For tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Larry Ellison, the isolation of Hawaii makes it the ultimate apocalypse hideaway. That’s likely why Zuckerberg wants to “plant roots” there. But his extreme compound has ruined the island paradise that initially drew him in.
-----------
Author: Alex Benningram
Tech News CITY // New York Newsroom
-----------
Author: Alex Benningram
Tech News CITY // New York Newsroom
