Larry Ellison spent $500 million on his grand plan to feed the world by growing lettuce on his private island in Hawaii.
Forget the world; the Oracle billionaire’s plan has been an utter failure, as his space-age greenhouses have barely managed to supply produce to nearby islands.
By Sayan Chakravarty
Luxury Launches
Mar 2, 2025
Excerpt:
The implementation of this grand vision quickly faced numerous challenges that the tech billionaire hadn’t anticipated. The six high-tech greenhouses built on Lanai became a case study in the difficulty of applying Silicon Valley thinking to agriculture. Israeli engineers who designed the greenhouse structures failed to account for Lanai’s strong winds and high humidity. The roofs, originally budgeted at $12 million, were repeatedly blown off by gusts reaching 80 mph, driving repair costs to approximately $50 million.
Elon Musk, a personal friend of Ellison, provided solar panels meant to power the greenhouses sustainably. However, the panels frequently became covered in dirt from the island’s winds, rendering them useless. In a stark contrast to the eco-friendly intentions, diesel generators were often used to power the operation.
Even basic technology proved problematic, with unreliable Wi-Fi connections preventing the hundreds of sensors—designed to regulate light, temperature, humidity, and ventilation—from functioning properly. This technological foundation, critical for a successful high-tech greenhouse, repeatedly failed.
Source: https://cityfarmer.info/larry-ellison-spent-500-million-on-his-grand-plan-to-feed-the-world-by-growing-lettuce-on-his-private-island-in-hawaii/
