A bitcoin billionaire is trying to offload his private African island and says he’s been deluged with “hilarious” offers — even though he doesn’t technically own the land.
“There is overwhelming interest,” tech titan Tim Draper told The Post exclusively. “I have gotten offers to swap for gold mines, houses, for cows, and for $1 with a promise to pay the rest — when he could.”
Draper’s plans to sell his Lupita Island property in Tanzania have been the subject of social media intrigue ever since he announced the sale on X on Aug. 28.
“I am selling my island in Lake Tanganyika,” he wrote. “Gorgeous place, but we don’t use it enough. $7.9 million or best offer.”
Things grew more interesting when, days later, Tanzania’s Ministry of Lands released a statement saying that Lupita Island was technically owned by the Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority (TISEZA) — and not Draper’s to sell.
According to the government, Firelight Safaris Ltd., a company in which Draper is a shareholder, holds a “Derivative Right” to develop and operate the resort he built on the island.
Draper conceded that’s the case. According to the ministry, his investment may be transferred to another investor under Tanzanian law, but the land remains government-owned.
“The sale is of all the tenant improvements,” Draper told The Post. “The buildings and villas are on a Tanzanian government land lease.”
That setup is common in Tanzania, where all land is public and foreign investors generally operate through government leases or derivative rights. Similar arrangements are typical in other island-tourism markets, such as the Maldives.
TISEZA says the rights can run for up to 99 years and may be renewed.
Lupita sits in Tanzanian waters in the country’s western Rukwa Region and can only be accessed via boat. The 110-acre island — about 0.17 square miles — lies in Lake Tanganyika, a 12,700-square-mile body of water shared by Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Zambia. Stretching roughly 418 miles, it is the world’s second-deepest lake, plunging to about 4,820 feet.
Per the resort website, Draper’s property includes 10 large thatched-roof cottages, some with open-air baths and private plunge pools; a spa; gym; swimming pool; games room; multiple bars and a 46-foot boat.
Draper has said that a Caribbean island trip around 2001 planted the seed for Lupita, inspiring him to create an exotic retreat of his own.
Following a family safari in Tanzania, Draper and safari operators Tom and Belinda Lithgow chose then-uninhabited Lupita. Construction began in 2004, and the resort opened in 2008 after a reported $6 million investment and various pricey mishaps.
He nevertheless described Lupita as an “escape hatch” and a long-term bet on African tourism. His stated reason for selling now is a simple one: His family does not use it enough.
Draper is far from the only billionaire to be seduced by island life. Virgin Group founder Richard Branson turned Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands into a luxury retreat, and bought nearby Moskito Island in 2007, dividing it into private estates, while Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison bought roughly 98% of Hawaii’s Lanai for a reported $300 million in 2012. He subsequently invested in renovating the hotels, agriculture, affordable housing and public amenities
Outside of island life, Draper has spent four decades making big Silicon Valley bets. He founded Draper Associates in 1985 and later created the Draper Venture Network. His firms have backed a number of notable companies including Hotmail, Skype, Baidu, Tesla, SpaceX, Coinbase and Robinhood.
He’s one of tech’s loudest bitcoin boosters. In 2014, Draper won a US Marshals auction for 29,656 bitcoins seized from the Silk Road marketplace, paying roughly $18 million at the time. That haul would be worth roughly $2.3 billion at current prices — more than 100 times its value in 2014.
For now, Draper’s island experiment has entered its next phase: finding a buyer ready to take on both the paradise and the paperwork.
Whatever the eventual deal, Draper says the offers have been quite entertaining.
“I think, when all is said and done here, you might have a book,” he told The Post.
