After nearly 12 years of courtroom warfare, mounting legal bills, and family office intrigue, the world’s second-richest person has hit another snag in his quest to own paradise.
Google cofounder Larry Page and his wife, Lucinda Southworth, purchased two islands in the US Virgin Islands — Hans Lollik and the smaller neighboring Little Hans Lollik — for $23 million in 2014, Business Insider previously reported. A developer named James Eckel claimed he already had a contract to purchase the Caribbean islands, kicking off a fierce legal battle between Eckel, the seller, and Page’s holding company.
The case was dragged through the Texas courts, which ultimately ruled on appeal in 2019 that Eckel was only entitled to financial damages, not the islands. However, the battle has also raged on in the US Virgin Island courts, where Page has sued for Great Hans, the entity owned by Eckel, to remove a document asserting a legal claim to the islands — and to rule that Page’s entity, USVI Properties, owns the islands “free and clear of any claim by Great Hans.”
Last week, attempts to resolve that case via mediation resulted in an impasse, according to a filing with the US Virgin Islands Superior Court. The issue will require court action, the filing said.
Representatives for Eckel and Page did not respond to a request for comment.
Shooting goats
The long-running legal battle has given a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Page’s family office, which is notoriously secretive even within an industry that prides itself on discretion.
Representatives for Page’s family office, named Koop, tried to keep Page’s involvement hidden from the other parties in the transaction, according to case transcripts previously reviewed by Business Insider. Page’s lawyers also fought to prevent the Google cofounder from being deposed, arguing he held no “unique or superior” knowledge of the transaction.
Great Hans has claimed that Page’s agents had awareness of the prior negotiations. It has argued that a legal ruling should not be made before Page provides a recorded, sworn testimony.
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Page’s connection to the transaction was previously confirmed by Business Insider after reviewing legal filings, including a 2016 deposition from the CEO of Page’s family office, Wayne Osborne. Gil Simon, a consultant hired to negotiate the transaction on behalf of Page, testified that he did not reveal the Google cofounder’s involvement to the sellers to keep his identity concealed.
Page’s specific intentions for the islands, located off St. Thomas, could not be learned. His lawyers said in a 2018 filing that he “plans to maintain the Islands in their undeveloped green and natural state.”
Osborne said in his 2016 testimony that the plan was to purchase the islands but not develop on them. In 2020, several people were seen dressed in camouflage and shooting “invasive” goats on Hans Lollik, Business Insider previously reported.
Page’s island collection
Page, who recently moved from California to Miami ahead of a potential billionaire’s tax, has a handful of other islands he can find some respite on.
He purchased Cayo Norte, an island east of Puerto Rico, for $32m in 2018 using the same Virgin Island Properties holding company, Business Insider previously reported.
In 2020, he purchased a majority stake in Fiji’s Tavarua Island, famed for its proximity to one of the world’s top surfing spots, using a different LLC that Business Insider identified as his. Page and his family spent some of the pandemic in Fiji.
During the Hans Lollik litigation, Osborne confirmed a long-running rumor that Page also owned Eustatia Island, an island in the British Virgin Islands, according to transcripts reviewed by Business Insider. Business Insider previously reported that Page had used that private island to test his flying cars.
Osborne also hinted that Page proposed to Southworth on Hans Lollik. Page and Southworth married on Richard Branson’s Necker Island, which neighbors Eustatia, in 2007.
