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Mark Zuckerberg Drops Lawsuits To Force Hundreds of Hawaiians To Sell Him Land (theguardian.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the change-of-heart dept.

Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg filed a lawsuit to force owners of several small parcels of land to sell to the highest bidder since these property owners are surrounded by Zuckerberg's land holdings and therefore have lawful easement to cross his private property. Ever since the story broke, Zuckerberg has faced major backlash from people all over the world, especially those living on the Hawaiian islands. On Wednesday, said he was "reconsidering" the set of lawsuits; today he announced that he will drop the lawsuits altogether. The Guardian reports: "Upon reflection, I regret that I did not take the time to fully understand the quiet title process and its history before we moved ahead," Zuckerberg wrote. "Now that I understand the issues better, it's clear we made a mistake." The process is controversial in Hawaii, where many view it as a tool of dispossession first employed by sugar barons, but later adopted by the wealthy malihini (newcomers) seeking vacation homes. Hawaii state representative Kaniela Ing, who emerged as one of the key critics of the lawsuits, said that he was "happy" and "humbled" by Zuckerberg's announcement. "It's not everyday where you face off with one of the most influential billionaires, best PR professionals and best attorneys in the world and win," he said. "It's a victory for everyone who shared the story on social media, for native Hawaiians, and for people everywhere. The parcels at stake in the Zuckerberg case were kuleana -- land granted to native Hawaiians in the 1850s after land was privatized for the first time in Hawaii -- contained within the boundaries of his 700-acre, $100m estate. Kuleana lands are especially important, law professor Kapua Sproat explained to the Guardian, because native Hawaiians view land as an "ancestor" or family member, rather than as a possession. "We understand that for native Hawaiians, kuleana are sacred and the quiet title process can be difficult," he wrote. "We want to make this right, talk with the community, and find a better approach." The CEO promised to hold discussion with "community leaders" representing native Hawaiians and environmentalists, and added that he is "looking for more ways to support the community as neighbors."

9 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. Upon reflection... by nwaack · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Upon reflection, I was being a douche and an assclown. Sorry...my bad."

    1. Re:Upon reflection... by x0ra · · Score: 5, Funny
      > "Upon reflection, I got caught by the same social media I helped develop. It's getting difficult to be a billionaire prick these day..."

      FTFY.

  2. I understand, we made a mistake by The-Ixian · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Now that I understand the issues better, it's clear we made a mistake.

    This just sounds like someone trying to spread the blame.

    Why couldn't he just say "I made a mistake" ?

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    1. Re:I understand, we made a mistake by TodPunk · · Score: 4, Insightful

      He's responding because it's a Facebook PR problem, a brand issue, not an actual mistake made by anyone involved. Even this headline is just inflammatory. He's not "suing" anyone in the sense that word conveys at all. He's not taking their land against their will either. He simply can't contact the owner and ask them to sell, because he has to go through the court to figure out who even owns the thing because the owner likely doesn't even know. This situation isn't that uncommon in land real estate either, but for some reason the internet got a hold of poorly worded "issues" and got out the pitchforks.

      I say the internet because that's what happened, but this sort of thing has happened before when papers reported things in odd ways, or a protester had some misleading language in a pamphlet or whatever. It's not unique to the internet. We just seem to do it a lot /more/ now with the proliferation of information and editors/writers with poor reasoning skills.

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  3. Parse error by BlackPignouf · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I parsed
    "Mark Zuckerberg Drops Lawsuits To Force Hundreds of Hawaiians To Sell Him Land"
    as
    "Mark Zuckerberg Drops Lawsuits (To Force Hundreds of Hawaiians To Sell Him Land)"
    instead of
    "Mark Zuckerberg Drops (Lawsuits To Force Hundreds of Hawaiians To Sell Him Land)"

    Can the title really be undestood both ways?

  4. Why? by avandesande · · Score: 2

    Wouldn't you just hire a property lawyer and figure this out before you purchase the land?

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    love is just extroverted narcissism
    1. Re:Why? by TodPunk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This was a step in that process. Ignore the inflamed language in TFA, it's inaccurate and makes this out to be something it's not. Most of the lands have been purchased and the ones he can't find the owner to make a deal with he has to go through the court system to work out. Seems boring when we put it that way.

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      This forum Sig is licensed under the LGPL.
  5. Re:Lawsuit sort of made sense... by PraiseBob · · Score: 2

    Because every square inch of land has to have "ownership", and can't just belong nebulously to a community that shares historical and familial bonds? Not everything is for sale, just because you have money. The thing everyone agrees on is this-

    * He doesn't own the land.
    * He wants to buy the land.
    * Many of the current owners do not want to have to fight in court to prove it is their land.
    * Many of the current owners do not want to sell their heritage for some minor payday

  6. It Takes A Big Man ... by Toad-san · · Score: 2

    to admit he made a mistake.

    Good for ya, Zuckenberg.