The billionaire couple, in less than a decade, have accumulated more than 269,000 acres of farmland across 18 states, more than the entire acreage of New York City. Members of the Stanley family now work for Generations. These land holdings are separate from their previous investments in companies that support large-scale farming like Monsanto and the tractor manufacturer John Deere. Leading Harvest requires farmland owners to work to continuously improve soil health, biodiversity, and water, air and crop quality on their farms as well as contribute positively to local communities, comply with regulations, and provide a safe and respectful working environment for employees, Zehren said. The biggest shift in recent years from small to big farms was in the US. Bill Gates farm in Ohio could become giant Savion solar farm In May, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates revealed in a Twitter statement their decision to end their marriage after 27 years. Since it works as an investment for him, it also includes the benefits of using land as an investment like he does. The report on US Land Ownership ("Land Ownership Report" / 1-21-22) indicates that Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and holder of 45% of its shares, is the main owner of North American land, owner of an area of more than 250,000 acres (101,171.4 hectares) deployed throughout the immense US territory, the fourth in the world in order of . Ag Briefs: Bill Gates top private farmland owner in U.S. A few years ago, Bill Gates has announced plans to build a smart city outside of Buckeye in Arizona. Its a hedging strategy, said Daniel Bigelow, a professor of agricultural economics at Montana State University, who previously served as a USDA research economist. Bill Gates top private farmland owner in US. Weve never been one of the big institutional buyers of single family homes, BlackRock, single-family rentals nationwide. In 2014, he co-founded The Red Nation, an Indigenous resistance organization. The billionaire knows best mentality detracts from the deep-seated realities of colonialism and white supremacy, and it ignores those who actually know best how to use and live with the land. This could give you a place to relax or to even build a small vacation home. By Bill and Melinda bought this massive mansion in the Coachella Valley for $12.5 million in 1999. 23:06 GMT 15 Jan 2021 In May, Bill Gates also transferred about $850 million in shares of the agricultural machinery company John Deere to his wife after the two shared publicly their plans to divorce. Starting in 2012, Gates investment firm began buying family farms in South Georgia. Bill Gates is now America's biggest farmer - The Telegraph Another 5,500 acres was sold to Generation Land Georgia, a company that shares an address with Miami-based Optimum Agriculture, which bought Generations Farms in 2019. Mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California: $18 Million. My investment group chose to do this, Bill Gates said on Reddit in March when asked about his farmland purchases while promoting his latest book, How to Avoid A Climate Disaster. It is not connected to climate. He did acknowledge that more productive farming techniques can help reduce deforestation in other parts of the world. Social media users are falsely claiming that Gates owns the majority of U.S. farmland. Bill Gates is America's biggest owner of private farmland, and his MINOT, N.D. North Dakotans like to pride themselves on being pro-property rights. While those companies dont explicitly name Cascade Investments as the owner in their public records, they do share the address of Cascade in Kirkland, Washington, or the address of a Cascade subsidiary, list the names of Cascade employees who registered the companies and sometimes even email addresses from the Bill and Melinda Gates Investment Group. the latest American Housing Survey by the Census Bureau. U.S. Census Bureau data shows fewer than 20% of such properties are rentals, and the vast majority of those are owned by individual investors, not institutional investors like BlackRock. Bill Gates shoots down rumored Chinese link to N.D. farmland Along the Columbia River border between Washington and Oregon, the Gateses purchased 100 Circles Farm, a 14,500-acre plot of land, for $171 million in 2018, according to property and business records. Gates portfolio comprises about 242,000 acres of farmland and nearly 27,000 acres of other land across 19 states, according to The Land Report, a magazine for land investors that tracks the nations biggest landowners. Apple is ditching more fancy features that just annoyed ev REBNY's new return-to-office gauge paints bright view for 'trophy' towers, Food delivery maven unveils NYC shop after dumping Mercedes mobile kitchens, US home prices just did something they haven't done since 2012, JPMorgan Chase requires some workers give 6 months notice before quitting, This Girl Scout cookie flavor is reselling for $100 online -- here's why, Tom Sandoval breaks silence on Ariana Madix split amid cheating claims, Kelly Osbourne posts first photo of baby son as he hangs out with uncle Jack, Greys Anatomy alum Isaiah Washington retiring from acting: The haters have won, Max Scherzer's first look at the new pitch clock, Kellyanne Conway and George Conway to divorce, Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave. In Georgia and Florida, NBC News independently confirmed through research of property records that the Gateses investment firm owns more than 7,000 acres through two limited liability companies, Lakeland Sands and Lakeland Sands Florida, LLC. Not only that, but it fits in with Gates values as a philanthropist because he can keep the farmland healthy for future generations. Bill Gates owns massive parcels of farmland. It's not part of his plans Bill Gates Called Out By Farmer For Secretly Buying Up US Farmland: 'I Residents Furious When Bill Gates Swoops in to Buy Huge - Futurism This is where a country sells land when the owner becomes delinquent on their property taxes. Gates is now America's largest private farmland owner, with hundreds of thousands of acres spanning across 19 U.S. states, according to the Land Report. Kroenke is married to Ann Walkton Kroenke, an heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune. The land that Bill Gates owns is used to grow soybeans, corn, cotton, and rice over 70,000 acres in northern Louisiana. Weve answered hundreds of questions from people regarding the buying and use of land. However, his largest land holdings are in Louisiana (69,071 acres), Arkansas (47,927 acres), Nebraska (20,588 acres . Investors bought a record 18.4% of the homes purchased in the fourth quarter of 2021 three-quarters of which were single-family homes, according to real estate firm RedFin. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, BillGatesbuys nearly $1B Heineken stake despite not being a big beer drinker, Bill Gates daughter living in $51M NYC home as she welcomes first baby, Elites want to use AI to censor political opponents, Bill Gates claims his private jet habit not part of the climate problem. has grabbed headlines in recent days, some prominent voices have taken to social media to claim that some other significant acquisitions by deep-pocketed individuals and corporations have largely flown under the radar. Land can produce food, fuel, and manufacturing materials as well as provide environmental services, residential spaces, and more. These states include: Arizona - 25,750 acres; Arkansas - 47,927 acres Malone owns several ranching and real estate businesses predominantly in Maine, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. According to 2021 article from the Land Report, a magazine about land ownership, Gates owns approximately 242,000 . Several Properties in Wellington, Florida: $27.2 Million (Total). Gates and his wife own 269,000 acres of farmland. So if now the best farmers can do if you want to stay in farming is rent this land, you're not going to get the benefits that come with land ownership.. If the land is owned by the Cascade Investment Group or Cottonwood Ag Management it is likely that Bill Gates may be one of your neighbors. Apparently Bill Gates now owns almost 242,000 acres of land in the United States. Every Property Bill and Melinda Gates Owned Together | RISMedia\'s These billionaires have nothing to offer us in terms of saving the planet unless its our land back. Malone continued, the forestry part of it in the Northeast is a pretty good business, with very low return on capital, but very stable and leverageable. Bill Gates uses farmland as investment vehicle, owning 269,000 acres of land. Bill Gates currently owns over 268,000 acres of American farmland spread out over 19 states. Single-family homes are priced between $5-25 million. We would love to talk to you! While most people do not have the ability to buy hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland like Bill Gates, anybody can look at land as an investment opportunity to take advantage of. This means that there is not much to maintain on it unless you want to add your own buildings or other property. Listen to article. *According to figures compiled by The Land Report in 2019. But they're just renting it. If not for climate, then why is Bill Gates buying so much farmland? Raw land is not developed. So what is this guy planning? America's Biggest Owner Of Farmland Is Now Bill Gates - Forbes Arable land is not just profitable. Bill Gates is best known for revolutionizing personal computing, but lately he's gotten back to the land. Who Owns More Land: Bill Gates, McDonald's or The Catholic Church? So while the tech mogul certainly owns a large constellation of farms, its nowhere close to the majority nationwide. With the Washington state acreage and other additions to his portfolio, The Land Report estimates that Gates now owns at least 242,000 acres of American farmland. Of those rentals, less than a third are owned by non-individual investors, according to a 2022 report by Harvard Universitys Joint Center for Housing Studies. Bill Gates is investing big in American farmland | Crosscut How much property does Bill Gates own? - Housing News The relationship to land who owns it, who works it and who cares for it reflects obscene levels of inequality and legacies of colonialism and white supremacy in the United States, and also the world. According to the Land Report in 2021, the Gateses had 242,000 acres of farmland, 1,234 acres or recreational land, and 25,750 acres of land that was in transition from farmland to residential and . The billionaire recently came under severe criticism from a fourth-generation farmer in South Georgia for his farmland ownership in the U.S. Will Harris, who owns a 152-year-old family farm named. Bill and Melindas main residenceand by far their most impressive homeis a massive compound in Medina, Washington nicknamed 'Xanadu 2.0' in a reference to Citizen Kane. But a Gates spokesperson said in a statement on Friday that the claim that hes bought the majority of the nations farmland is false, pointing to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report from February that showed there were more than 895 million total acres of farmland in the country last year. Bill Gates wins legal approval to buy huge swath of North Dakota Lots of articles on this are full of "4D chess" speculations about climate change blah blah, but the real reason for this seems to be very simple: "just to collect rent." Estate in Indian Wells, California: $12.5 Million. Dr. Alan Busacca, professor emeritus at Washington State University, told Land Report at the time that the fertile land in the area was used for growing 'apples, cherries, carrots, dryland and irrigated wheat, and row and field crops'. One answer might surprise you: While trying to track down who recently purchased 14,500 acres of choice farmland in Washington state's Columbia River Basin, researchers at The Land Report discovered the new owner was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Here is the . It was the highest priced land sale in the US that year. But that could soon change. Today, Bill Gates owns 242,000 acres of farmland in 19 states. Bill Gates: America's Top Farmland Owner | The Land Report. . Reed family: Land area: 1.7 million acres. Stan Kroenke: Land area: 1.4 million acres. Bill Gates had managed to purchase nearly 269,000 acres of land in more than 12 states in the US. Although the sale price has never been made public, the 492-acre home was listed for $8.9 millionand we cant imagine Bill and Melinda doing much haggling. The Emmerson family owns and operates Sierra Pacific Industries, a company that logs usable lumber after forest fires and sells it to lumber retailers. As the population grows in large cities, some people will inevitably want to move to the country. Why Bill Gates is the largest private farmland owner in the - Vox In every state where the Gateses own land, a tangled web of locally registered limited liability companies follow. than 85 million single-family homes in the country, and only around 15 million of those are rentals, Of those rentals, less than a third are owned by non-individual investors, according to. jwz: Bill Gates' Land Ownership An Update on Bill Gates' New Smart City in Arizona | GlobeSt In six years that number has more than doubled. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File ), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Bill Gates may be trading his pocket protector for cowboy boots. Gates achievement, according to the report, is that hes largest private owner of farmland in the US. Its uncertain why Gates has invested in so much farmland or how his tracts are currently being used. FILE - Bill Gates attends a discussion during the 'Munich Security Conference' in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. Through his subsidiary Mt. The comments below have not been moderated, By With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. There are more than 85 million single-family homes in the country, and only around 15 million of those are rentals, according to the latest American Housing Survey by the Census Bureau. 4 It can be used for residential development, commercial projects, industrial zoning, public or semi-public use, agriculture, or right of way (a way for others to access a different piece of land or portion of the land). With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. CNN founder Ted Turner owns 2 million acres of land largely in New Mexico, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Georgia. Investment firms are making the argument farmlands will meet carbon-neutral targets for sustainable investment portfolios while anticipating an increase of agricultural productivity and revenue. According to landreport.com, the Gates family has a total of 242,000 in farmland acreage in the United States. Bill Gates Approved to Buy Acres of Farmland in North Dakota - IJR THE FACTS: As Elon Musks bid to purchase Twitter has grabbed headlines in recent days, some prominent voices have taken to social media to claim that some other significant acquisitions by deep-pocketed individuals and corporations have largely flown under the radar. Gates shares 95% of the ownership with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Who owns the most land in America? Jeff Bezos and John Malone are among Recently, an article in Land Report stated that Bill Gates owns more American farmland than anyone else. The Gates Rancho Santa Fe estate was purchased in 2014 because of its horse stables and proximity to a local race horse track. You may also be interested in why a billionaire wants land. That doesnt mean that every piece of land is a good investment, but a significant amount of land will offer a high return on investment. We Now Know Why Creepy Bill Gates Invested in All of That US Farmland Like other investment opportunities, you can find land for sale online. Dailymail.com Reporter Mason notes that trying to draw hard lines between ones philanthropic work and ones investments does not work. A survey of the Gateses farmland holdings shows that a broad range of the vegetables that Americans eat can be traced back to his land and that some of this land has also been owned by other billionaires. - Bill and Melinda Gates are taking on the new title of the biggest farmland owners in the United States, with a good chunk of that ownership being in Arkansas. If you said investment, then you are right. Malone made his fortune as a media tycoon, building the company Tele-Communications, Inc, or TCI, and acting as its CEO before selling it to AT&T for $50 billion in 1999. Billionaire owns 38-square miles of farmland in Illinois. In other words, when the economy is struggling, the value of farmland generally doesnt depreciate. Since then, weve sold to dozens of people from ATV weekend warriors to camping enthusiasts to retired truck drivers. But those working on projects with both investors and farmers to create ecologically sustainable farming methods and support diverse and disadvantaged farming communities say rethinking agriculture and working to avert a climate crisis go hand in hand. The gun and the whip may not accompany land acquisitions this time around. It can be sold as a property (or multiple properties), it can be used to produce things that people buy, or it can be rented out, like much of the farmland in the United States. Bill and Melindas main residenceand by far their most impressive homeis a massive compound in Medina, Washington nicknamed 'Xanadu 2.0' in a reference to, Undisclosed Sale Price (Listed for $8.9 Million). Bill Gates Is America's Largest Private Owner of Farmland - Breitbart Bill Gates now owns more farmland than anyone else in the United States, as the tech tycoon has quietly purchased 242,000 acres of farmland in several states across the country. It also is a shareholder in the plant-based protein companies Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods as well as the farming equipment manufacturer John Deere. For Indigenous caretakers, land use isnt premised on a return of investments; its about maintaining the land for the next generation, meeting the needs of the present, and a respect for the diversity of life. America's leading landowners added hundreds of thousands of acres to their holdings last year. He owns 242,000 acres, which is equivalent to the area of Fannin County GA. Agriculture is also a key focus area for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the massive charity run by Gates and his wife. So while the tech mogul certainly owns a large constellation of farms, its nowhere close to the majority nationwide. In emails, BlackRock spokesman Christopher Beattie told The Associated Press that the firm. In terms of agriculture and his practices Bill Gates, Microsoft billionaire, may be more than . Which is where the Bill Gates' Land Ownership interactive map comes in. Wealth accumulation always goes hand-in-hand with exploitation and dispossession. Bill Gates was quietly becoming the biggest private owner of farmland in the United States. , said his investment group was behind the purchases, and suggested it was linked to seed and biofuel development. In emails, BlackRock spokesman Christopher Beattie told The Associated Press that the firm primarily invests in retail, office buildings, hotels and apartment complexes, rather than single-family homes, but he declined to provide a breakdown. Bill Gates has secured legal approval for his North Dakota farmland purchase But the deal drew scrutiny under a 1932 anti-corporate farm ownership law Now state AG says the deal is legal, because . Bill Gates, the fourth richest person in the world, currently owns 242,000 acres of farmland, making him the top private farmland owner in America, according to Forbes. Though the Gateses are major owners of American farmland, the couples holdings only represent a fraction of the 283 million acres of farmland that is owned and rented out by nonfarmers.