Marc Benioff Acquires $100 Million In Hawaii Land, Donates $150 Million To Local Hospitals

After quietly buying about $100 million in land on Hawaii's Big Island, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is donating $150 million to hospitals in the area.

The donation comes after NPR broke a story about Benioff's land purchase that sparked concerns among the largely native population of Waimea. People are worried housing prices will go up and that their culture could be in jeopardy, according to NPR.

Benioff's donation will be distributed to the Hilo Medical Center, which will receive $50 million, and the nonprofit healthcare organization Hawaii Pacific Health, which will receive $100 million "to help create a healthcare campus of the future" at Honolulu-based Straub Medical Center, according to a press release.

"Our philosophy has always been to give locally and to give through experts who deeply understand local needs, and we are so pleased to have found that with the wonderful, lifesaving teams at Hilo Medical Center, Hawaii Pacific Health and UCSF Health," Benioff and his wife, Lynne, said in a statement. "We feel fortunate to have been part of the Hawaii community for many decades and to be able to support our ohana [family] in this way. Nothing is more important than the health of our community and access to care for all who need it."

Benioff, who's worth about $10.6 billion, has purchased more than three dozen parcels of land totaling more than 600 acres in Waimea through a nonprofit and at least six anonymous limited liability companies with the same San Francisco Bay Area address, according to NPR, which broke the story last month.

"I came to Hawaii for the first time and fell in love," Benioff told NPR. "I fell in love with the people, or what we call here in Hawaii ‘ohana." I fell in love with the land that we call ‘aina.' And, of course, I fell in love with the aloha spirit."

Benioff and his family will use about 165 acres of the land and the remaining plots will be developed into a community center and an affordable housing complex, according to NPR.

"Marc and Lynne (Benioff's wife) have donated almost 75% of the total land they've purchased in Hawaii over the last quarter century and well over 90% of the land they've purchased since 2020," a spokesperson for the couple told The New York Post.

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