Larry Page’s – Nearly 12 years after Google cofounder Larry Page and his wife bought two islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands for $23 million, his ownership fight with a seller’s affiliated entity is still stuck in court. Mediation efforts last week ended in an impasse, settin
The idea of private paradise can turn surprisingly public when paperwork won’t let go.
In 2014, Google cofounder Larry Page and his wife, Lucinda Southworth, paid $23 million for two islands in the U.S. Virgin Islands: Hans Lollik and the smaller neighboring Little Hans Lollik. But the purchase came with a fight that has never fully ended. A developer named James Eckel claimed he already had a contract to buy the islands. sparking a bitter legal battle involving Eckel. the seller. and Page’s holding company.
The case moved through Texas courts and. on appeal in 2019. ruled that Eckel was only entitled to financial damages—not the islands themselves. Yet the showdown refused to stay confined to one courtroom. In the U.S. Virgin Islands. Page sued for Great Hans—the entity owned by Eckel—to remove a document asserting a legal claim to the islands. Page also asked a court 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 U.S. Virgin Islands case through mediation failed. A filing with the U.S. Virgin Islands Superior Court said the mediation produced an impasse, and that the dispute would require court action.
Representatives for Eckel and Page did not respond to a request for comment.
The long-running litigation has also offered rare visibility into how Page’s family office operates—guarded even by an industry known for 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. Page’s lawyers also fought to prevent him from being deposed. arguing he held no “unique or superior” knowledge of the transaction.
Great Hans, however, 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.
The timing and the tension are rooted in the transaction itself, off St. Thomas. Page’s connection was confirmed earlier through legal filings reviewed in the case history. including a 2016 deposition from the CEO of Page’s family office. Wayne Osborne. Gil Simon. a consultant hired to negotiate the transaction for Page. testified that he did not reveal the Google cofounder’s involvement to the sellers to keep Page’s identity concealed.
What Page intended to do with the islands is hard to pin down. but the filings show at least one stated position. Page’s lawyers said in a 2018 filing that he “plans to maintain the Islands in their undeveloped green and natural state.” Osborne. in his 2016 testimony. said the plan was to purchase the islands but not develop on them.
Years later, the islands drew attention for a different reason. In 2020, Business Insider previously reported that several people were seen dressed in camouflage and shooting “invasive” goats on Hans Lollik.
During the Hans Lollik litigation, Osborne also confirmed a long-running rumor that Page owned Eustatia Island, an island in the British Virgin Islands, according to transcripts reviewed. Business Insider previously reported that Page used Eustatia Island to test his flying cars.
Even Page’s personal life has been interwoven with the island story in the record. Page and Southworth married on Richard Branson’s Necker Island in 2007, which neighbors Eustatia. Osborne also hinted that Page proposed to Southworth on Hans Lollik.
The story of Page’s island holdings extends beyond Hans Lollik, underscoring the stakes of getting ownership clean. Page purchased Cayo Norte. an island east of Puerto Rico. for $32m in 2018 using the same Virgin Island Properties holding company. In 2020. he bought a majority stake in Fiji’s Tavarua Island—known for its proximity to one of the world’s top surfing spots—using a different LLC identified in prior reporting as his. Page and his family spent part of the pandemic in Fiji.
Behind the courtroom friction. the sequence of filings and attempted workarounds forms a single. stubborn knot: mediation failed last week. and Great Hans continues to press for Page’s testimony while Page’s side seeks a clear ruling that USVI Properties owns the islands “free and clear” of any claim. For Page, the fight is about the legal certainty of assets that were meant to deliver quiet. For Great Hans, it is about whether the right story of negotiations has been told under oath.
For now, the dispute remains where it has increasingly lived for nearly 12 years—waiting for a judge to sort out what paperwork says, what testimony may still be required, and what it means to own paradise without legal shadow.
Larry Page Lucinda Southworth Hans Lollik Little Hans Lollik U.S. Virgin Islands USVI Properties Great Hans James Eckel mediation impasse family office Koop Wayne Osborne Gil Simon Cayo Norte Tavarua Island
23 million for islands and they can’t just settle? Rich people really love paperwork more than beaches.
Isn’t this the same thing where the guy claimed he had a contract already? Like… I feel bad for whoever actually bought first, but also mediation failing sounds like nobody wants to lose face.
Wait so Page is suing to remove a document?? I thought mediation was supposed to be the part where everyone agrees and goes home. This sounds more like they’re just stalling until the islands become like, “public” or something. Also USVI court stuff is probably slow as hell.
Larry Page really can’t get his own paradise without a lawsuit?? Kinda makes me think Eckel probably got paid off already and the “mediation impasse” is just them pretending. And why is it in Texas AND the Virgin Islands like it’s a ping pong tourney for paperwork.