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- Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has purchased a home on Maui, Pacific Business News reports.
- Bezos has been making donations to local organizations over the past several weeks.
- Several other tech execs have put down roots in Hawaii, including Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Jeff Bezos appears to be the latest tech exec to put down roots in Hawaii.
According to Pacific Business News' Brian McInnis, Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, recently purchased a new home on Maui for an undisclosed sum. The home is located in an isolated area on the island's south shore and is near lava fields, PBN reports.
Bezos is currently the second-richest person in the world with a net worth of $191 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. The Amazon founder, who stepped down as CEO earlier this year, owns several other properties throughout the US, including a $175 million compound in Beverly Hills and a $23 million mansion in Washington, DC.
"Jeff and Lauren love Maui, have a home on the island, visit frequently, and want to be a part of supporting the local community," an unnamed person close to the couple told PBN.
A spokesperson for Bezos did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Bezos has made several donations to local organizations in the weeks leading up the report of his new home purchase on the island. In August, Bezos donated to the Friends of the Children's Justice Center, a nonprofit that offers support to children who have been abused or neglected. Soon after, Bezos made a donation to the Maui Farm, which offers transitional housing for women and children who have experienced abuse or homelessness.
In September, Bezos donated to the Hawaii Land Trust to help protect four areas on Maui, and he also made a donation to the Mālama Family Recovery Center, a residential treatment program for women who are in recovery from substance abuse.
The amounts Bezos donated to each organization were not disclosed.
Bezos' newfound interest and investment in Hawaii is part of a growing trend among tech leaders. In 2012, Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison purchased 98% of the island of Lanai and has since worked to turn it into a wellness utopia through his company, Sensei. In May 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent $53 million on more land on Kauai, bringing his and his wife Priscilla Chan's total landholdings on the island to more than 1,300 acres.
And Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has been snapping up properties on the Big Island since as far back as 2000. Bloomberg reported in 2018 that Benioff's fascination with Hawaii - and his decision to embed components of Hawaiian culture into Salesforce's company culture - led some employees to call the company out for appropriation.