Marc Benioff
He’s the CEO and co-founder of San Francisco-based Salesforce, one of the world’s largest software companies, which owns the popular messaging service Slack and is worth nearly $300 billion. He also owns Time magazine.
When I ask Benioff about the properties in the anonymous LLCs, things seem to take a turn. He starts speaking more quickly and fidgets with a piece of paper in his hand. He’s reluctant to go through the holdings, and his adviser on the Zoom call jumps in to say we can discuss later.
A couple of days before the interview, Benioff texted the same NPR colleague again, asking for intel on my story. Then he called me and demanded to know the title of this piece. During that call, he also mentioned he knew the exact area where I was staying. Unnerved, I asked how he knew, and he said, “It’s my job. You have a job and I have a job.” During the interview, he brings up more personal details about me and my family.
I leave the meeting disconcerted and still unclear about what exactly is happening with his land in Waimea.
The following day, I drive around with a photographer to take pictures of the town and Benioff’s projects. We go to the property he described as a community center and are confronted by one of his employees. The photographer explains we’re there to take photos of the outside of the building. Shortly afterward, I get a text from Benioff. His employee seemed to think we were “snooping,” and he says he’s escalating the incident to NPR CEO John Lansing. Lansing confirmed he spoke with Benioff, without going into detail — the NPR newsroom operates independently, and the CEO is not involved in editorial decision-making. Benioff didn’t respond to my question about the purpose of this call.
Epstein 2.0?
Isn’t this super obvious, he’s going to try to buy the island wholesale make it private and declare tacit sovereignity like he’s a dole or some shit.
Might be worried about domestic conflict, I am, and I think everyone should be pretty concerned about the end of this year.
Yeah, that’s my thinking as well. All these billionaires seem to be becoming doomsday preppers (Zuck, Altman, etc).
After reading about “effective accelerationism,” which many of these people seem to subscribe to, I think they’re worried “technocapitalism” and AI will cause a collapse of society. I.e. they’re purposely funding and promoting projects they think will cause a societal collapse. It’s a really wierd cult-like ideology and worldview. I think they’ve fallen for their own grifts.
But yeah, I’m personally more worried about the destruction of U.S. institutions (which Trump and Republicans publicly admit they plan to do), and the potential social unrest, federal-state conflict, and economic havoc it may cause.
Why would Hawaii be safe?
Maybe because it is isolated, and they can buy enough space for a buffer from conflict. I dont know, I have never been there or know much about it. Seems like a nice place to hold out the apocalypse.
Islands generally are not good places to be during climate change or resource shortages
Yup, every time I watch a zombie movie or series I always think how nice it must be for those on an island out in the middle of nowhere.
Are all of the properties connected? When Bill Gates built his house he used a bunch of shell companies to buy up all the lots that became his estate, so that the owners didn’t realize there was a big project planned there by the richest man in the world and demand higher prices.
It’s from Walt Disney and their Disney World playbook.
Zuck did the same on Kauai
Unlimited money and still pulling shenanigans so that they don’t have to pay it to other people.
What’s worse is he bought the land that native Hawaiians got as their birthright, but said native Hawaiians were poor and desperate, so they sold it to him. They didn’t know that they were selling to one of the richest people on the planet who could afford to pay them more. I don’t think Zuck is well liked by the locals out there.
Fuckerberg isn’t liked by anyone.
They got wealthy by making smart decisions like these. They’re not trying to avoid paying a fair price, they’re trying to make sure they don’t get gouged when the buyers realize how deep their pockets are. I would challenge you to consider whether your statement was made with reason, or with a learned hate for those wealthier than you.
They’re not trying to avoid paying a fair price
Bullshit
That is some serious cuckery right there. Why in the fuck would you want the world to be owned by people who can never be held responsible for who they destroy? They’re not going to love you. Ever.
The only reasonable way to deal with them is tax everything over $500 Million at 100%. NO individual should EVER have this much power.
They got wealthy by having enormous incomes from their very luck-based positions in life, and continually exploiting people around them. Sure, they made some smart decisions along the way, but smart decisions alone don’t make a billionaire, and billionaires make stupid decisions all the time. Let’s not pretend they’re worth a hundred billion times more than everyone else because they’re a hundred billion times smarter. They’re greedier, less ethical, and often criminally malicious.
But if it’s worth more because you need it to complete you doomsday bunker than fair market says you can ask for whatever is fair and the other side willing to pay.
Hiding your intentions may be smart but it’s also very much trying to avoid paying a fair price.
I don’t understand… Was he morally obligated to disclose the fact that he wants to build a large underground structure for some reason? Does that change the fact that they have land they want to sell, and he wants to purchase it?
Morally? No of course not. Morals don’t exist really just shared rules.
Which that’s what is failed by using lots of hidden companies in shells that are hard to source back. If he was buying the land himself anyone could say yes and take whatever was offered but also they can do due diligence and bargain for more since that land means more to the rich man collectively than it does separately to landowners before.
It takes away the ability for those who are not as capable but just as smart to be informed and potentially collective bargain should they want to do so. It puts all the negotiation power on one side and isn’t fair to an open informed market.
Man is he the reason Salesforce has a weird “Hawaiian” theme in their offices.
Volcano lair, obviously.
To store barrels of other countries’ toxic waste, obviously.
He’s buying farmland. Billionares are preparing to profit from the coming climate apocalypse by buying land and water. Marc Benioff isnt the only one. Hawaii is a great idea, niiiice and defensible. the future is gonna be fucking exciting folks, i cannot begin to tell you how terrified i am that we wont kill these fucking punks in time to save ourselves
I think it’s kinda crazy that him and zuck chose Hawaii for their doomsday bunker, especially considering they chose the same small island.
Hawaii may be defensible now, but climate change is going to make it a whole lot harder. Microenvironments like small islands are prone to systemic collapse when exposed to rapid changes.
I just don’t really see how the benefits of isolation really overcome the negative effects of climate change will surely bring.
Maybe he is a straw purchaser for Zuck.
how terrified i am that we wont kill these fucking punks in time to save ourselves
We won’t. The future will look like now but worse off and people will have just adjusted to keep living and trying to pretend to be happy in it by buying more even as the class that can shrinks. And complaints will be answered with angry responses of people needing to smile more and not ruin their fun times. It’s easy to just not go against the flow and argue that people drowning deserve it and that it will just bring you down when you try to help them.
Isolation is probably gonna rise further. And humans will adapt because the ones that don’t will die. Simple as that.
One day Hawaii might become the next Taiwan.
Edit to add: By the lack of downvotes, I must not have been clear. I meant that, after the revolution, the surviving capitalist class would retreat to a “USA” consisting of only Hawaii. Much like the Republic of China now consists of only Taiwan.
It’s not safe from drones, bombers, and naval bombardment.
What makes you think they don’t/won’t have anti-aircraft and anti missile defences? I’m pretty sure they don’t plan on going down peacefully…
Then you just do that to their supply ships off island.
There are people far dumber than him that have already figured out that retreating to your own island in times of global crisis is a momumentally stupid idea.
Gee, way to not act suspicious. Guess he is all in on intimidation as a means of control.
You act like this wouldn’t work on literally every other major media outlet besides NPR…
The billionaire club is a small club, we’re not in it and they don’t give a single fuck about all of us out together.
Billionaires don’t need to intimidate NPR, they own it. Have you seen the list of sponsors? Carnagie. Rockefeller. Walton. The list is on their website, it’s chock full of names like that. You ever wonder why NPR always tows the DNC party line, practically word for word? It’s because NPR and the DNC have the same bosses. This guy’s mistake was not being on that list.
Rich people just doing what they always done. Kick indigenous peoples off their land and give them STDs.
You had me until STDs
So this guy is going full Bond villain and no one but this reporter is calling him on it, got it.
And he’s trying to intimidate the reporter by threatening her family and her job.
Just what the people of Hawaii need, another rich person snatching up precious land on an island that already has a high cost of living.
CEO is not involved in editorial decision-making
Heh, I love it when a rich idiot gets shut down by some good ol’ journalistic ethics. “No, you are not special, Mr. Benioff.”
He is probably just jealous of Larry Ellison
Or Zuckerberg.
Or Jeffrey Epstein.
Wrong ocean
The real story is the stupid shit he pulled by trying to bully and intimidate a reporter and a news organization.
that’s called staying a billionaire
Shout out to that NPR reporter for not being intimidated
During that call, he also mentioned he knew the exact area where I was staying. Unnerved, I asked how he knew, and he said, “It’s my job. You have a job and I have a job.”
So the tech CEO’s job is… checks notes …spying on journalists?
His job is trying to sound all tough and intimidating yet achieving nothing except making himself look even more pathetic.
