Vinod Khosla, who owns 89 acres of beachfront property in California’s San Mateo county, just wants people to stay off his beach. To be clear, he’s referring to Martins Beach, which was public up until Khosla bought the surrounding property in 2008 and closed off access to the beach–which he did without obtaining a permit from the California Coastal Commission. Khosla is now taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court to contest a California court of appeals ruling in August, which forced him to open the beach to the public again.
Khosla has been mired in this legal battle for years. (Keep in mind this is a man whose net worth is reportedly $2.4 billion.) It’s entirely possible the Supreme Court won’t take up his case–the California Supreme Court declined to back in October. But if they do, it sets a precedent for the who’s who of Silicon Valley to follow in Khosla’s footsteps. Plus, the ruling could impact coastal protection laws in other states.
In his petition to the Supreme Court, Khosla claims his case is a “textbook physical invasion of private property.” Sounds more like a billionaire trying to throw his weight around.
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