Who Really Owns Fiji Water? Inside the Billionaire Power Couple's Empire
By Alexander Ross
The controversy surrounding the Resnicks' control over water extends far beyond the South Pacific. In their home state of California, the couple commands an unprecedented volume of irrigation water. Through their extensive almond, pistachio, and citrus operations across the Central Valley, the Resnicks consume more water annually than the entire residential population of San Francisco.
Investigative reporting and fact-checking from CBS News and PolitiFact highlighted how the Resnicks secured major equity stakes in the Kern Water Bank, an enormous underground water storage facility built using public taxpayer funds before being transferred to private entities in the mid-1990s. When severe multi-year droughts dry out reservoirs across the American West, forcing local family farms to fallow fields, The Wonderful Company draws water from its reserves to keep hundreds of thousands of acres of nut trees productive.
Critics frequently point out the paradox: an American billionaire family captures and exports drinking water from an island nation where nearly a quarter of local citizens lack reliable, clean tap water, while using massive public-private water banks to insulate their tree-nut empire back home. The Resnicks defend their record through extensive philanthropy, investing millions in the Central Valley and running the Fiji Water Foundation, which provides clean water systems, scholarships, and disaster relief across rural Fijian villages.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
