Locals Wish Bill Gates Had Bought Lanai Instead

The New King of Hawaii.

That’s the headline of a nice Slate.com dispatch on Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s purchase of Lanai. But as the writer aptly observes, Ellison’s aggressive business and personal history suggest he’s “uniquely unsuited” to owning a sleepy island like the Pineapple Isle:

… He pursues first place in all that he does. But Lanai may not reward that pursuit, and it’s easy to see him struggling to play the diplomat in tricky island politics where local livelihood depends almost entirely on his decisions.

And that Lanaians wishing Bill Gates had bought the island instead: 

While Gates got into some trouble during his 1994 wedding on Lanai when he tried to block access to public property, he soon became accepted by many here—in part because on his regular visits he came off as low-key and in part because he donated computers to the community. 

Read the full story.