Larry Ellison, a Silicon Valley tycoon with ambitions to convert his recently acquired Hawaiian island into a model for sustainable enterprise and tourism, has appointed a chief operating officer for the corporation charged with running the Pacific destination.

Kurt Matsumoto stepped into the role of COO of Lanai Resorts LLC - which runs all business operations on the 365 sq km island of Lanai - on 1 December.

Ellison, chief executive of technology giant Oracle, bought the island in June.

Matsumoto was born and raised on Lanai - home to 3,000 residents, two Four Seasons resorts and two championship golf courses - and has since worked on mainland US, the Caribbean and three Hawaiian islands.

Ellison purchased 97 per cent of Lanai from Castle & Cooke for an undisclosed sum with the remaining three per cent owned by Maui County and the state government.

In an October interview with CNBC Ellison disclosed he hopes to convert the island into a "laboratory for sustainability in business of small scale."

He hopes to encourage the use of electric cars, develop solar energy to convert seawater into fresh water and support organic farming for export.

According to Forbes Ellison is worth US$41bn (31.3bn euro, £25.4bn) making him the six wealthiest person in the world.