Larry Page's $23 million private island headache won't go away

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."