Salesforce CEO and cofounder Marc Benioff has donated $150 million to a group of medical organizations in Hawaii, he said Tuesday, one of the largest private gifts in the state’s history.
The gift includes $50 million for the Hilo Medical Center and $100 million for Hawaii Pacific Health, one of the state’s largest nonprofit healthcare organizations. Hilo Medical Center will use the gift for several initiatives, including developing an intensive care unit and neurosurgical program. Hawaii Pacific Health will create a new campus in Honolulu in partnership with the University of California, San Francisco Health.
Benioff and his wife Lynne, who also own Time magazine, have now donated the equivalent of over $250 million for philanthropic causes in Hawaii, according to a joint statement announcing the latest gifts.
“We feel fortunate to have been part of the Hawaii community for many decades and to be able to support our ohana in this way,” the Benioffs said in a statement. “Nothing is more important than the health of our community and access to care for all who need it.”
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The announcement came a week after a media frenzy about why Benioff has purchased land throughout Hawaii. An NPR report highlighted Benioff’s recent land purchases in the state, specifically in the small town of Waimea. Benioff lives in a $24.5 million, 9,800-square-foot beachside mansion down the mountain from Waimea, which he purchased some 20 years ago.
Since 2000, he has bought at least 38 parcels of land through six anonymous limited liability companies for a total of more than 600 acres of land, according to NPR. That comes out to 29 parcels — over 580 acres — in Waimea and about nine parcels, or 25 acres, at beach resorts. That’s almost $100 million worth of land, NPR reported.
A spokesperson for Benioff said Tuesday that almost 75% of the land purchased over those 24 years has been donated to philanthropic causes, including more than 90% of the land bought since 2020. Benioff has gifted 282 acres of land to a nonprofit building affordable housing on the Big Island and 158 acres to a separate nonprofit entity.
The disclosure of Benioff’s land purchases renewed fears that the state is changing as native Hawaiians leave due to the high cost of living and a lack of affordable housing. Median home prices have climbed at least 22% from before the COVID-19 pandemic as wealthy individuals move in, according to Redfin.
Thirty-seven billionaires —including Oprah Winfrey, Meta co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and Malaysian businessman Quek Leng Chan —own 5.3% of Hawaii’s land between them, according to Forbes. Ellison alone owns nearly the entirety of Lana’i, Hawaii, a 90,000-acre island he’s turning into “the first economically viable, 100% green community.”