Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison buys a Hawaiian island

Lanai City - While Moody's downgrades 15 more banks in the world, it is still possible for a billionaire to buy a whole Hawaiian Island - Lanai to be exact.

The co-founder and CEO of software company Oracle Corporation, Ellison is the third richest man in the U.S., with an estimated worth of $36.5 billion. He is now planning to buy 98% of Lanai, which is the sixth largest of the Hawaiian Islands. Lanai is known as the Pineapple Island, due to its pineapple plantations, but these days the island's business is mostly focused on housing and luxury tourism. It is the smallest, publicly accessible, inhabited island in Hawaii, with about 141 square miles of land and has a population of approximately 3,100.

Halibut Thyme

Garden of the Gods, Lanai, Hawaii

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Ellison is planning on buying the land from the current owner, billionaire David Murdock's Castle & Cook Inc. While the price has not yet been announced, reports are stating that the asking price is between $500 and $600 million. AP says that the report on the deal came from Hawaii Governor, Neil Abercrombie. Abercrombie apparently held a meeting with Maui Country Mayor, Alan Arakawa, and Castle and Cook last week to discuss details of the sale. Ellison's plans for the island have not yet been revealed. However, Mike Wilson, who wrote Ellison's first biography, said, that he's likely to do something "epic and grand," and that "The difference between God and Larry Ellison: God doesn't think he's Larry Ellison." Wilson said half-jokingly on Thursday that, "He could build the world's largest rare butterfly sanctuary, a medical research facility to help him live forever or a really cool go-cart track." Apparently those are some of Ellison's outlandish interests, so could possibly happen. Wilson also said that Ellison is a man who feels cheated by a limited life-span. "He's like a kid who never grew up but yet is a great visionary." "He's capable of anything. Lanai may be in store for the grandest preservation effort Hawaii has ever seen. Or it may be in line for the most grotesque development effort it has ever seen," he added. Apparently Murdock's Castle & Cooke Inc. have sent letters to Lanai employees telling them about the sale, but reassuring them that they will all be retained by Ellison and that all contracts will be transferred. State Sen. J. Kalani English told AP that this was comforting to Lanaians, as they wonder what the island has in store from its new owner. “I’m getting a nice feeling that they’re coming into it with sensitivity. It’s much more than just an investment,” English said.