Mark Zuckerberg-turned-farmer announces he has bought a herd of cattle that he will feed with macadamia flour and beer – with the aim of “creating the highest quality beef in the world.”
The 39-year-old Facebook founder said he will raise the cattle on his ranch in Hawaii, feeding them nuts for flavor and protein and beer so the animals can relax.
Zuckerberg — who has a net worth of $126.5 billion — has bought up hundreds of acres on Kauai since 2014 and now owns 1,400 acres of beachfront land on the North Shore worth an estimated $270 million.
“I started raising cattle at Ko’olau Ranch on Kauai, and my goal is to create the highest quality beef in the world,” he wrote on Instagram — owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta — on Tuesday.
Mark Zuckerberg owns 1,400 hectares on the Hawaiian island of Kauai and announced Tuesday that he began raising cattle on the land
Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have three daughters: seven-year-old Maxima; five-year-old August and baby Aurelia, born in March 2023. The Facebook founder shared a photo of one of his daughters hard at work on the farm
“The cattle are Wagyu and Angus, and they will grow up eating macadamia flour and drinking beer that we grow and produce here on the ranch.
‘We want the entire process to be local and vertically integrated. Each cow eats 5,000 to 10,000 pounds of food every year, so that’s a lot of acres of macadamia trees. My daughters help plant the mac trees and take care of our various animals.’
Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have three daughters: seven-year-old Maxima; five-year-old August and baby Aurelia, born in March 2023.
‘We are still early in the journey and it is nice to improve this every season.
‘Of all my projects, this is the tastiest.’
Zuckerberg accompanied his post with a photo of himself eating a large piece of meat.
Despite the apparently rocky and tropical nature of Zuckerberg’s property, ranching is possible: The Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council says the state has a long history of raising cows on the land.
Cattle first arrived in Hawaii in 1793, the group says, when Captain George Vancouver presented King Kamehameha with six cows and a bull.
Hawaii used to raise cattle for local consumption, but over the past 35 years it has become cheaper to import beef from the mainland.
Today, commercial ranchers raise calves that are largely sent to the mainland for ‘finishing’ – to complete their growth and then slaughter them.
However, with his fortune of $130 billion, Zuckerberg does not have to worry about the economics of his company.
Zuckerberg said he will breed highly regarded Wagyu cattle, like this one pictured in Japan – where the cows come from
Zuckerberg’s estate towers over Pilaa Beach (photo)
A pound of macadamias costs $36 at the Hawaiian supermarket chain Foodland, Fast company reported – he calculated that if the tech entrepreneur stocked up on raw materials during normal shopping trips, he would spend $180,000 to $360,000 per year on each cow.
He admitted that the unusual diet for his livestock was an experiment, saying it was just for fun.
When someone commented that it was a strange mix to feed cows, he replied: ‘It will be a few years before we can fully investigate how this diet affects taste. But in any case, macadamia nuts have a very high nutritional density with lots of proteins and fats.’
And Zuckerberg said he gave the cattle beer for relaxation and enjoyment, so the meat could taste better.
“There has been some research into the influence of alcohol on relaxation and muscle tension, but I’m not convinced one way or another,” he said.
‘We tailor the beer to what they like best over time. Of course, they also graze on their pasture, so it is still very important to get the right nutrients into the soil.
“I have many more theories about how to improve this over time.”
Feeding Wagyu cattle beer is not abnormal: In Japan it is often part of their diet, with farmers claiming that the combination of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins and carbohydrates aids digestion and improves taste and texture, Fast Company reported.
Zuckerberg spent $116 million on 707 hectares of land in 2014, including most of Pila’a Beach and the Kahu’aina Plantation.
He purchased another 600 acres in April 2021 for $53 million.
“Mark and Priscilla still live at Ko’olau Ranch,” said Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Zuckerbergs.
The couple plans to expand their work in agriculture, ranching, conservation and wildlife conservation on the now 1,400-acre property, LaBolt said.
According to the Hawaiian newspaper The Garden islandZuckerberg’s estate includes a 6,100-square-foot home with a 16-car garage, offices and a $23 million security headquarters for Zuckerberg’s security team.
Zuckerberg and Chan are accused of trying to colonize the island of Kauai.
They first came under scrutiny after building a wall around his first Hawaiian property, purchased in 2014, that blocked access to Pilaa Beach.
Zuckerberg was also accused by some of trying to evict tenant farmers from their historic plots, and in 2017 he apologized in the local newspaper, explaining that he would abandon his quiet title actions and “work with the community to a new approach’. ‘
The founder of Facebook has vowed to preserve the pristine island landscape
In 2020, a petition was started to “Stop Mark Zuckerberg from Colonizing Kauai,” and it now has over a million signatures.
The couple’s most recent purchase – in 2021 – includes the spectacular Larsen’s Beach.
They bought the land from a non-profit organization founded by a local family, whose roots date back to the days of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
Abner and Lucy Wilcox, a missionary couple, arrived from Connecticut in 1837, when Hawaii was still a monarchy.
The monarchy would remain in power until January 1895, after which the area was annexed by the US
The Wilcoxes had a school that would be passed down from generation to generation.
In 1975, the Waioli Corporation took over management of the land and the trustees sold part of their property to the Zuckerberg-Chan family.
Waioli operates federal and state historic sites on the island, including the Waioli Mission House Museum and the Mahamoku Beach Residence in Hanalei, and the Grove Farm Museum in Lihu’e, as well as plantation-era steam locomotives in its collection.
The couple said in a statement that they plan to continue the work the Waioli Corporation has done to conserve the land known as Lepeuli, which is home to pristine reefs and forests and provides habitat for native birds and plants.