Mark Zuckerberg sues to protect HIS privacy: Facebook CEO in legal battle to force hundreds of native Hawaiians who have ancestral rights to patches of his vast $100m estate to sell up
- Facebook co-founder has filed lawsuits against a few hundred people, Honolulu newspaper reported Wednesday
- Some Hawaiian citizens own land via law dating back to 1850 called Kuleana Act
- About a dozen parcels on Zuckerberg's 700-acre estate belong to such families
- CEO now wants these families to sell their patches during a public auction
- Using the law to induce land sales is thought to be problematic because it severs the link between native community and their land
Mark Zuckerberg is suing Hawaiian families in an attempt to get them to sell their land to make his 700-acre property more secluded, a Honolulu newspaper reported Wednesday.
Almost a dozen of small parcels on the Facebook co-founder's $100 million Kauai property belong to Hawaiian citizens who acquired them through legislation dating back to 1850, called the Kuleana Act, according to the Star Advertiser.
As such, these land owners are allowed to walk through Zuckerberg's domain. But the billionaire is believed to have filed lawsuits against a few hundred people in the hope that they will sell their parcels at a public auction.
Using the law to induce land sales, which isn't uncommon in Hawaii, can be viewed as problematic because it severs the native Hawaiian community's link to ancestral land.
Mark Zuckerberg (pictured in a file photo with his wife Priscilla Chan) is suing Hawaiian families to force them to sell their land, a Honolulu newspaper reported Wednesday
Almost a dozen of small parcels on the Facebook co-founder's $100 million Kauai property (pictured) are believed to belong to Hawaiian citizens
The Kuleana Act followed Hawaii's 1848 Great Mahele, a land redistribution decision that enabled private ownership.
Zuckerberg is believed to have sued a few hundred people via several companies that he controls, the Star Advertiser reported. Some of these people, who inherited or owned interest in the land, are dead.
Land parcels acquired through the Kuleana Act are sometimes passed on from heir to heir with little to no documentation, making it tricky to trace back the ownership.
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Three Zuckerberg entities known as Pilaa International LLC, Northshore Kalo LLC and High Flyer LLC filed eight lawsuits on Kauai on December 30, according to the newspaper.
A partner at the Honolulu firm representing the Zuckerberg companies said large parcels of land in Hawaii often include smaller patches whose ownership isn't well known. Some co-owners do not even know that they own part of the land.
Actions such as Zuckerberg's are 'the standard and prescribed process to identify all potential co-owners, determine ownership, and ensure that, if there are other co-owners, each receives appropriate value for their ownership share,' Keoni Shultz said.
One of the defendants named by Zuckerberg is known only as Oma, without a last name, in keeping with old Hawaiian customs.
Similar auctions have in the past led to below-market sales, but according to the Star Advertiser, some of those involved in the Zuckerberg cases believe the billionaire will offer a fair amount of money.
Land owners whose patches are located on Zuckerberg's domain (pictured) are allowed to walk through the property. The billionaire is believed to want to keep his land secluded
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