Who owns hotel lanai

CEO Larry Ellison , the billionaire who owns 98 percent of the island of Lanai, has added another hotel to his collection on the Pineapple Island with the purchase of the historic Hotel Lanai, one of the hotel's former owners told PBN Thursday. The sale of the room hotel, which also has a one-bedroom cottage and a seat restaurant called the Lanai City Grille, to Ellison closed earlier this month, Mary Charles , who had owned the hotel along with her husband, Tom Kiely , and their nephew, Mike Charles , told PBN on Thursday.

Charles, who declined to specify the purchase price, said that Aqua Hospitality booked rooms at Hotel Lanai as a third-party booking agent. Now, Ellison lives in Lanai full-time and plans to use "the power of Zoom" to work from the island. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The square-mile island, which is eight miles off the coast of Maui, has zero traffic lights and few paved roads, according to Forbes.

Compared with other Hawaiian islands, Lanai is secluded — but Ellison has plans to change that: He wants to turn Lanai into a tourist destination. Lanai already boasts two Four Seasons-run hotels. The island was also home to two golf courses when Ellison bought it, including Manele Golf Course.

In , prior to Ellison's ownership of the island, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates got married at the 17th hole of the course. The other course, Koele, was designed by golfer Greg Norman. The course has since been shut down, and an adventure park and zipline have been installed in its place. Ellison's Lanai purchase included an animal-rescue center.

Because there are no natural predators to cats on Lanai, the feral-cat population at the shelter has ballooned to over cats which Ellison technically owns. In recent years, it's become a travel destination in itself. Ellison's ambitions extend beyond tourism, however: he plans to create "the first economically viable, percent green community," according to The New York Times. In , Ellison launched a wellness company called Sensei, which is working on three main issues: global food supply, nutrition, and sustainability.

Sensei's goal is to use data to help people lead healthier and longer lives. Sensei Ag, the agriculture side of the business, oversees six hydroponic greenhouses spanning , square feet. The greenhouses have sensors and cameras that track data about the farms, including water usage and airflow. After visiting the remote Hawaiian island of Lanai, the billionaire founder of Oracle loved the property so much that he decided to buy it in Here's what it's like to stay at Ellison's five-star slice of paradise.

Here, guests are treated like royalty. Guests receive a dose of local culture as soon as they check in thanks to the multimillion-dollar Polynesian art collection that decorates the space. The penthouse suite features three plush bedrooms, a drop-down television, ocean views and handmade parchment wall coverings. Outside, koi ponds and a botanical garden of native plants add whimsy and beauty to the already lush landscape.

Waterfalls and secluded dipping pools are spread throughout the outdoor space, carefully arranged to provide privacy and make each guest feel like the only one at the resort.