If there’s proof that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is the key to a long life, former Dole Food owner David Murdock, now 101 years old, is it. When he sold the tiny Hawaii Island of Lanai to Oracle owner Larry Ellison for $300 million twelve years ago, he did so with one proviso – that he keep the 1-acre parcel where he had built an oceanfront vacation home, expecting to live out the remainder of his life in paradise on the island that once hosted one of the world’s largest pineapple plantations. Murdock has been a pescatarian since 1985, eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, drinking several smoothies a day and, according to The New York Times, aims to live until 125.
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However, according to The Wall Street Journal, Murdock is now putting the palatial estate on the market for $17 million. Although Lanai only has a population of 3,000 on its 140 square miles, it’s synonymous with exclusive luxury. It hosts several private estates, a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and two Four Seasons hotels that Murdock developed, one of which is next to his 8,500-square-foot home, now on the market.
Despite his age, Murdock, a self-made billionaire, only used his Lanai residence as a vacation home, staying full-time in Lake Sherwood, Los Angeles. He started in the produce business relatively late in his career in 1985 when he bought Castle & Cooke, a Hawaii real-estate firm that owned Dole and most of Lanai. He took the company private twice in 2003 and 2013.
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Murdock’s net worth is estimated at $3.7 billion. His story is all the more remarkable. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Second World War, he found himself homeless and destitute in Detroit. A good Samaritan lent him $1,200, which he used to purchase and sell a diner. The $700 profit allowed him to start a business as a property developer in Arizona. Through Castle & Cooke Holdings, Murdock purchased residential and commercial properties in Arizona, California and Hawaii. He subsequently ventured into mining and the petrochemical business.
