Tech billionaire Larry Page might be trying to buy up all of the world’s private islands—or at least a good chunk of them.
The co-founder of Google has been revealed as the buyer of the 300-acre Cayo Norte in Puerto Rico, Business Insider first reported. According to documents, Page used an LLC, U.S. Virgin Island Properties, to quietly snag the palatial property back in 2018. At the time, he paid a whopping $32 million for the spread, which is considered the largest privately owned isle in all of Puerto Rico. The off-market deal included a larger parcel for $28.7 million and a smaller piece of land for $3.4 million.
Per the publication, the ex-CEO has now racked up five private islands that are spread out across the Caribbean and South Pacific. Most notably, he reportedly owns Tavarua Island in Fiji and Eustatia Island in the British Virgin Islands—not far from Richard Branson’s Necker Island. In 2014, Page also dropped $23 million to acquire Hans Lollik and Little Hand Lollik in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
As for his most recent purchase, Cayo Norte—formerly known as West Key or North East Key—is located roughly 20 nautical miles east of Puerto Rico and is positioned off the coast of Culebra. The tropical retreat has stunning white sand beaches and the area surrounding it is teeming with coral reefs and wildlife including endangered sea turtles. Before Page, Cayo Norte was owned by local developer Dan Shelley starting in 2006. Prior to that, it belonged to the Padrón family, the outlet reported.
In the six years since Page snapped up Cayo Norte, he hasn’t submitted any applications for development, Richard Gautier, director of Culebra’s office for territorial planning, told Business Insider. According to locals, there has, however, been activity near the island. More specifically, people have been spotted using electric-powered surfboards, also known as hydrofoils, nearby, which has quickly become the water sport of choice among tech giants like Page, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Ellison.
“Our hope is that this guy doesn’t want this as an investment property that will be developed and ruined,” Mary Ann Lucking, the director of a nonprofit coral reef conservation organization called CORALations, told BI. “If it can be protected with that north coast of [the nearby island] Culebra, that would be ideal.”
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