Land Boss buys land: Tech billionaire Marc Benioff has been buying vast swaths of land in a small residential town in Hawaii. And local people want to know why. The buys have been going on for decades, but the pace accelerated in 2018. The town’s mayor and others say they’ve been left in the dark about the company behind it. They’ve heard rumors of plans for a new city, but it’s unclear what that would look like and who’s funding the purchases. NPR tech correspondent Dara Kerr has been trying to find out more about what’s happening in Waimea.

Why Land Boss Buys Land Fast for Cash

Waimea is a working-class town in the rural outskirts of Honolulu. Its biggest draw is the local farmers market. But there aren’t many jobs here, and the cost of living is high. So, many residents are struggling. They’ve been told by government officials that the new owner of their land could make things better.

The Waimea-area property has been bought by a company called Flannery Associates, which has bought millions of acres of dry farmland since 2018. But the firm has not shared any details about its plans. And the federal authorities have no idea who is behind the company or why it is paying so much money for such large tracts of land. It also hasn’t explained why it is buying so much land near a military base that borders Travis Air Force Base on three sides. A federal investigation is underway, but the details are not yet public.