David C. Cole
From dKosopedia
David C. Cole, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Maui Land and Pineapple Co. Company, Inc. since October 2003 and Chairman of the Board since March 2004.
From an article in BusinessWeek Online dated March 31, 2005:
- At Maui Land, Stephen M. Case and Cole started by retrofitting the pineapple business, increasingly battered by low-cost fruits from Asia and the Caribbean. Now, MLP is shifting its production to higher-price organic pineapples, skirting commodity markets by targeting the upscale, health-conscious consumer. Pineapples still account for half the outfit's 2004 operating revenues.
- But the biggest challenge has been overhauling Maui Land's Kapalua Resort, which has lost the luster of its glory days. Instead of turning the old Kapalua Bay Hotel into condos, as many other developers are doing with excess properties, Maui Land and partners Marriott International (MAR ) and Case's Exclusive Resorts vacation club are investing $300 million to build a new hotel in its place.
- ...Instead of 3,000 acres devoted to the resort, as before, they're allocating 23,000 -- or 80% of Maui Land's property -- most of which will be a nature preserve of dramatic cliffs, valleys, and beach connected by 100 miles of trails. "We're anticipating what visitors of the next generation are looking for," says Cole. "We will derive value through the scarcity of development." [1]
Active in conservation and early childhood education, Cole is a director of PBS, Island Press, Sesame Workshop, and the American Farmland Trust. He is a former director of the Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund. [2]
Executive Positions
- 2003-Present: Chairman, President & CEO of Maui Land & Pineapple, Inc., a land holding and operating company in Hawaii. Effective October 15, 2003.
- 2001-present: Chairman of The Twin Farms Collection, LLC, an owner & operator of luxury resorts in Vermont and California.
- 1997-2004: Director, Healthnotes, Inc., a publisher of peer-reviewed nutritional and health information for retailers and consumers.
- 1996-present: Chairman, Sunnyside Farms LLC, a retailer of luxury goods based on a diversified organic farm serving mid-Atlantic fresh food markets.
- 1994-1997: Officer of America Online, Inc. serving initially as president of AOL's Internet Services Company and later as president of AOL New Enterprises group; held operating responsibility for AOL International, AOL Enterprises, Digital City and AOL corporate development.
- 1993-1994: Chairman, president and CEO of Navisoft, Inc., an Internet-based software provider acquired by AOL.
- 1986-present: Lead investor in a variety of early-stage technology investments, including Macromedia, Inc., Shiva Corporation (acquired by Intel), and Tops, Inc. (acquired by Sun Microsystems).
- 1985-1987: President of Ziff Communications and the Ziff-Davis Publishing Group.
- 1981-1984: Chairman, president and CEO of Ashton-Tate, supplier of dBase, Framework and other pioneering software products for microcomputer users.
- 1976-1980: Manager of a consulting firm serving the strategic planning needs of emerging software companies and a variety of editorial positions at Prentice-Hall and CBS, Inc. [3]
Education
- B.A. 1976 Liberal Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa. [4]
External Links
- Lynch, Russ. Maui Land & Pineapple hires former AOL exec as chief executive Honolulu Star-Bulletin, August 29, 2003.
- Executive Cultivates Agriculture, Tech Skills: David C. Cole made his millions in technology, first at his own start-ups, then at America Online as it grew into a behemoth. Then he walked away from it all and bought a fruitless and tired Virginia farm, eventually turning it into a bountiful, viable organic business. BizReport.com, 9-8-03.
- Griffith, Lesa. Mr. Sustainability: David Cole is changing the way Maui Land & Pineapple does business. With any luck, his sustainable ways will take root and bloom statewide Honolulu Weekly, October 13, 2004.
- Yang, Catherine. The Pineapple of Case's Eye -- With huge real estate and resort investments in his native Hawaii, the former AOL chief is set on blending profit with philanthropy BusinessWeek Online, 3-31-05.
- Growing Growers Hawaii Business, April 2005.
- Star-Bulletin staff. Case raises stake in Maui Land & Pineapple Co. -- The founder of AOL buys $10.2 million worth of shares Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 11-19-05.
- Cole, David C. COMMENTARY: Agriculture is alive and well in the Islands Honolulu Advertiser, March 21, 2006.
- Nicholls, Walter. Island executive selling off Va. farm Honolulu Advertiser, June 15, 2006.
- Advertiser staff. Fewer land sales lead to loss for Maui Land & Pineapple Honolulu Advertiser, August 5, 2006.