> [Ellison is] fond enough of repeating the quote “It is not sufficient that I succeed—all others must fail” that it’s often misattributed to him instead of its generally accepted originator, Genghis Khan.<p>> Most of the more than 30 Lanai residents interviewed for this story say that because there are no real alternatives to Ellison’s control, his decisions carry the force of law, with a minimum of discussion and hardly any due process.<p>> Many residents both rent from him and work for him, and a provision in his residential leases states that if you’re terminated from a job with any of his companies, you can be kicked out of your home, too. Under Ellison, 30-day leases have become the norm for Lanai’s small businesses, as opposed to the five-year terms some were used to before.<p>> Ellison shook his hand and told him, “We’re gonna do great work together,” he recalls. That was the last time they spoke. Two weeks later, Andrus was out of a job.<p>> People here say there remains a “plantation mentality” that leaves residents afraid to criticize those in charge.<p>> “He has the right to do whatever the hell he wants with what he owns,” Andrus says.<p>> “He’s amazing,” says Gail Allen, who owns a gift shop in town and manages rental properties for Ellison’s visiting employees. “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, please.”<p>> In this version of gentrification, you don’t just get pushed farther out from the city center. You get pushed out into the sea.<p>Fascinating article, thank you OP.