last week, It was revealed Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has been accelerating the purchase of large tracts of land in Hawaii.who is benioff worth billions of dollars, purchased about $100 million worth of land across the Big Island through a series of obscure limited liability companies. He has been tight-lipped about much of the land’s use and has been hostile to NPR reporters who covered the story.Now, Benioff seems to be really trying to save face announced He will donate $150 million to area hospitals.
Benioff on Tuesday explain He will donate millions of dollars to Hawaii’s health care system.money will go Hilo Medical Center and Hawaii Pacific Health Center. Additional funds will be donated to UCSF Health in San Francisco.Although press releases related to donations claim Benioff’s gift was “developed over a year of collaboration,” which is certainly an appropriate time considering Benioff just received some pretty bad press last week.
“We are fortunate to have been a part of the Hawaiian community for decades and to be able to support our Ohana in this way,” the Benioffs said in a statement shared with the media. “There is nothing like our community’s Health and access to care for all who need it have never been more important.”
NPR’s reporting on Benioff’s land grabs caused quite a stir, in part because of Benioff’s bizarre behavior toward reporters covering the story. Dara Kerr, who interviewed Benioff at one of his island residences, said the billionaire knew something strange about her and her family, and she was later seen After taking photos on the island with a photographer, she called her boss, the CEO of NPR, to complain. One of his properties.
While Kerr wrote in the report that “much of the land purchased by Benioff was not for Salesforce or his philanthropy but for personal use,” a spokesperson for Benioff now appears to dispute that .spokesman tell quartz Since Benioff began buying in Hawaii nearly 25 years ago, “almost 75% of the land purchased” has been donated to charity, including more than 90% of land purchased since 2020. The spokesperson added that Benioff “gifted 282 acres to a nonprofit that builds affordable housing on the Big Island and 158 acres to a separate nonprofit entity.”
Gizmodo reached out to Salesforce for additional comment from Benioff and will update this story when we hear back.
While I’m sure hospitals in Hawaii would appreciate Benioff’s money, it’s unfortunate that rich people think they can justify anything by just throwing more money at it. We don’t really know what Benioff does with all his holdings, but the bottom line is: One really doesn’t need that much land.