Embarrassed billionaire charged for speeding on an island he owns

Billionaire Larry Ellison who owns Hawaiian Island Pulama Lanai was stopped and charged by a traffic cop for speeding and not stopping at a stop sign.

Hawaii News Now reported on Saturday, January 14 that the Oracle co-founder was stopped whilst driving his orange corvette last year.

To add insult to injury the policeman asked for identification, driver´s licence, registration and insurance – standard practice in the U.S.

According to the body camera footage Ellison is said to have apologised and said he was trying to get home to have dinner with his children. He also apologised saying he did not have his driver´s licence with him.

But he added: “There’s no excuse, there’s no good excuse.”

Gabe Johnson, a Maui County Councillor who represents and lives on Lanai, said that confronting Ellison is hard and that the officer who pulled him over did a “nice job.”

“Some communities, as we all know, have let the elite just, you know, run wild.”

Ellison has come in for some criticism from councillors and residents over his behaviour and his projects on the island.

He is said to want to turn the island into a tourist destination, “the first economically viable, 100% green community.” He has already launched a wellness company on the island but has been accused of blocking public access to Hulopoe Beach Park, near Ellison’s Four Seasons resort.

That beach is used by the indigenous population for cultural practices, a move that has further alienated the billionaire.

Johnson said that local people still have rights and that the billionaire like everyone else should be charged for speeding even if he does own 98 per cent of the island.

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