Billionaire Michael Dell, who went from a precocious child with small ventures to dropping out of college to run his PC startup, to building one of the world’s largest tech firms, to commanding a multibillion-dollar empire, is also the buyer of nearly 500 acres of Hawaii land from a Hawaiian trust. It is no secret that the Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies has owned the Four Seasons Resort Hualālai for 20 years under a ground lease. With a spend of about $400 million, he now has rare fee-simple ownership of the resort, converting it from leasehold to fee-simple control. The seller was Kamehameha Schools, and the acreage totals 491 acres across two transactions made in late August 2025.
The ace businessman, who is worth nearly $140 billion today, also owns Four Seasons Resort Maui, purchased in 2004, two years before the Hualālai property. It is where the first season of HBO’s The White Lotus was filmed. Beyond hotels and business, the locale serves as his sanctuary. Dell and his family have long vacationed in Hawai‘i, and the 60-year-old owns a significant estate at Kūkiʻo, the ultra-exclusive community just south of Hualālai, with wealthy neighbors like Ken Griffin, Matthew McConaughey, and Bob Parsons.
As far as the Four Seasons Hualālai is concerned, this beautiful parcel makes for an unforgettable refuge for guests, boasting oceanfront views on the Kona-Kohala Coast. The hotel includes 249 rooms and suites and a signature Jack Nicklaus course that hosts the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Championship. But the truly impressive fact is that Kamehameha Schools is the largest private landowner in the state, with nearly 370,000 acres, and its endowment has an estimated $4.7 billion in Hawaii real estate, according to SFGate. Dell’s bold move to secure fee-simple ownership not only cements his personal ties to Hawai‘i but also places him among Silicon Valley billionaires reshaping the islands’ luxury landscape.
