Video Game Co-Founder Buys 21-Acre Kealakekua Farm, Plans Lychee Orchard Revival

Pennsylvania native Andrew Tepper, co-founder of video game developer eGenesis, recently purchased 21 acres of land in Kealakekua, adding to a Big Island real estate footprint that spans more than 15,000 acres. eGenesis, founded in 1999, built its reputation on massively multiplayer online role-playing games, including titles involving cryptocurrency-based casino mechanics.

The newly acquired parcel, zoned for agricultural use, came with a lychee orchard that had fallen into neglect. "I don't have many plans, but I am working on getting the lychee orchard back up and running," Tepper said. "We are working to fertilize the trees and do everything necessary to get the orchard nice and healthy." He expects to check on the trees in person before summer. "I think I'll be back to the island in May to see the lychee tree, maybe swim in some waterfalls," he said. "Hopefully, that will also be when the next hearing is scheduled."

Last year, Tepper made his largest purchase to date on the Big Island: a 792-acre Kūpaianaha Ranch for $10.59 million. In 2025, he also purchased two agriculture-zoned properties just over one acre each in Kealakekua, one of which included plans for a luxury home build-out according to public records, and a third parcel of 21.46 acres for $2 million, also zoned for agricultural use.

In the past five years, Tepper has acquired more land on Hawaiʻi Island than major landowners Marc Benioff, CEO and co-founder of Salesforce, and Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies. Aside from the Falls on Fire festival, it remains unclear exactly what Tepper plans to do with the combined 15,000 acres. He spends about two months a year on the Big Island and has purchased at least $35.1 million in Hawaiʻi Island properties since 2021.

The Kealakekua purchase arrives amid an unresolved permitting dispute tied to Tepper's property in Pāpaʻikou. On a 15-acre portion of his land near Hilo, Tepper held a controversial festival in 2023 and 2024 called Falls on Fire, an event with a large wooden effigy inspired by the annual Burning Man held in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. Main complaints from residents in Pāpaʻikou and surrounding areas centered on the burning of the effigy, attendees driving on a private gravel road, loud music for three nights, and the fact that Tepper did not apply for a special use permit for land zoned for agriculture.

After receiving numerous complaints from neighbors, the County of Hawaiʻi Planning Department opened an investigation and found that Teppy Mountain LLC violated permitting laws in 2023. The county imposed fines totaling $34,000 for the gatherings in 2023 and 2024. In September 2024, Teppy Mountain LLC applied for a special use permit to operate an annual festival with overnight camping for up to 500 attendees on a 14.7-acre portion of a larger 1,419.17-acre property. The Windward Planning Commission held contested case proceedings in Hilo in November 2025 to allow testifiers to voice their support or opposition.

For a planned 2026 Falls on Fire, Tepper said: "I am just waiting for them to schedule another hearing for the special use permit. All I'm truly asking for is to use 1% of that land parcel, 1% of the time each year for a leave-no-trace event." His May trip, he said, is tied to both the lychee trees and whichever county hearing gets scheduled next, leaving the orchard's revival and the festival's legal fate on the same timeline.