According to the Land Report 100 Research Team, that figure is currently more than twice that amount, which means Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft, has an alter ego: Farmer Bill, the guy who owns more farmland than anyone else in America. 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. In fact, this also means that you may not even have to apply for a loan to start the investment! Listen to article. Why should striking rail and postal workers get a big pay rise while our pay packets remain stagnant or worse? The agency further found that over 50 percent of cropland is rented to farmers who dont own their land. It makes no sense.. BILL Gates' $80billion property empire now hangs in the balance after he and his wife of 27 years announced they are divorcing. He is an assistant professor in the American studies department at the University of New Mexico. The billionaire Microsoft co-founder has become the largest owner of farmland in the. In this country, enslaved Black labor first built US wealth atop stolen Native land. How the Mormon Church Beat Bill Gates in a Battle - The Daily Beast These land holdings are separate from their previous investments in companies that support large-scale farming like Monsanto and the tractor manufacturer John Deere. The acquisitions are held directly, as well as through Gates' personal investment entity, Cascade Investments. Although the price that the Gates paid for this property was never made public, theres a $300,000 initiation fee, and more than $37,000 in annual feesand you still have to purchase a home within the community. In fact, Gates is the owner of over 270,000 acres of farmland, which is worth over $700 million! In addition, he owns 25,750 acres of transitional land and 1,234 acres of recreational land for total land holdings of 268,984 acres. As more and more land gets developed, if you own land that is in the path of the plan, you could have buyers offering you big money to take hold of the property. At this valuation, Gates likely paid close to $2 billion for the luxury-hotel business. So why did the Land Report dub him Farmer Bill this year? 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. Bill Gates is investing big in American farmland | Crosscut Residents Furious When Bill Gates Swoops in to Buy Huge - Futurism While the Gates own a lot of farmland, nonfarmers own 283 million acres of farmland throughout the U.S. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'askbamland_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_3',103,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-askbamland_com-medrectangle-4-0'); This article will go into detail about how much land Bill Gates owns and why he owns so much. That makes Invitation Homes the, largest operator of single-family rental homes in the country, but still represents, BlackRock also suggested it was being confused for the similarly-named i. nvestment management firm Blackstone, which until recently owned Invitation Homes. These purchases are also a direct result of their daughters equestrian career hopes because of Wellingtons close proximity to the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. 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. The land is owned both directly and indirectly by Cascade Investment, the Seattle-area firm that Gates the worlds third-richest man with a net worth of $132 billion, according to Bloomberg set up to manage his massive fortune, according to The Land Report. NBC News also found that another 6,500 acres in north Florida are owned by yet another company, Suwannee River Terra, which was also started with an address in Kirkland and an email address from the Bill and Melinda Gates Investment Firm, which is now registered to the current chief counsel of Oak River Farms with a mailing address in Kansas, according to property records. And we think it will provide good inflation protection in the long run. Bill Gates' 242,000 Acres of Farmland Could Be Split in Divorce The option expires Oct. 31, 2024. Lets take a look at some of the reasons that land, particularly raw land, can be a good investment for Bill Gates or anybody else, including you. 4. The Microsoft co-founder acquired 14,500 acres of the fertile land in 2018, helping to make him the largest private farmland owner in the US, with total holdings of almost 250,000 acres,. One of the Gates favorite vacation homes is in the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana. Here is an overview of all of the property the couple owned together at the time of their divorce: Bill and Melinda dont publicly discuss this topic often, but they are the top owners of farmland in the U.S. With some 242,000 acres, the estimated value of their farmland is in the billions. Bill Gates has invested in various high-profile commercial properties through his personal investment company, Cascade. 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. While private companies and corporations are increasing . A 6,300-acre farm owned by Bill Gates in Madison County could become the site of one of the nation's largest solar farms. Through Sierra Pacific, the family owns some 2 million acres in California and Washington. . Kroenke is married to Ann Walkton Kroenke, an heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune. The billionaire Microsoft co-founder has become the largest owner of farmland in the United States by quietly buying up massive plots across the county, a new report says. Quarterman also serves as the Suwannee Riverkeeper and advocates for conservation of the intricate network of springs and rivers in the region, where water from the swamps of Georgia flow into Florida before they release into the Gulf of Mexico. There is only a certain amount of land available on earth. There are also growing trends revolving around the purchase of low acreage farmland and noncommercial farming. He is also the chairman and largest stakeholder of Liberty Media, possessing 28% of Discovery Communications, which was acquired by Scripps Network for $14.6billion. You may also be interested in why a billionaire wants land. The principal danger of private farmland owners like Bill Gates is not their professed support of sustainable agriculture often found in philanthropic work its the monopolistic role they play in determining our food systems and land use patterns. Investors bought a record 18.4% of the homes purchased in the fourth quarter of 2021 three-quarters of which were single-family homes. This will always be true, no matter where the land is. Stan Kroenke: Land area: 1.4 million acres. He is the author of the book Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance (Verso, 2019), In a pandemic, billionaires are richer than ever. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File ), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. A few years ago, Bill Gates has announced plans to build a smart city outside of Buckeye in Arizona. Bill Gates is best known for revolutionizing personal computing, but lately he's gotten back to the land. Weve answered hundreds of questions from people regarding the buying and use of land. There are also ways to generate passive income on the land without selling it because you can lease the land or sell the mineral rights, among other methods. A 2018 purchase of 14,500 acres of prime eastern Washington farmland which is traditional Yakama territory for $171m helped him get that title. 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, who already owns close to 270,000 acres of land in the U.S He now owns more farmland than my entire Native American nation. This is part of APs effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. In total, Gates owns approximately 242,000 acres of farmland with assets totaling more than $690m. Mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California: $18 Million. The biggest shift in recent years from small to big farms was in the US. 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 . The largest. Bill Gates Called Out By Farmer For Secretly Buying Up US Farmland: 'I 23:06 GMT 15 Jan 2021 Bill Gates owns a lot of American farmland, but not the majority Bill Gates is the largest private owner of American farmland, which is why so many people are wondering what he will use it for. Bill Gates reveals reasons behind massive farmland purchases Data gathered by The Land Report and NBC News show that their land holdings range from 70,000 acres in north Louisiana, where their farmland grows soybeans, corn, cotton and rice, to 20,000 acres in Nebraska, where farmers grow soybeans. 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. In 1994 Bill and Melinda Gates are said to have hired Michael Larson to help them diversify their property portfolio. Gates and his wife own 269,000 acres of farmland. They bought and later sold an additional 6,000 acres in Georgia, NBC News found. Bill Gates Approved to Buy Acres of Farmland in North Dakota - IJR If you own a good amount of land, then you have the possibility of subdividing it into multiple lots that can generate separate income streams. They add it will take those with large parcels of land, like the Gateses U.S. farmland holdings, to do it. Published: 18:36 ET, Dec 8 2022 Updated: 10:03 ET, Dec 9 2022 A MAP has revealed which billionaire owns the largest amount of land in the US - you'll be shocked to know that it isn't Bill Gates. The attraction that people have to investing in farmland is that it tends to be countercyclical to the stock market. The billionaire tech mogul and philanthropist has quietly amassed nearly 270,000 acres of farmland across the country, but thats still a relatively small slice of the nations nearly 900 million total farm acres. For five generations, the Reed Family has owned and operated the logging company Green Diamond Resource Co. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Bill Gates: America's Top Farmland Owner | The Land Report. Land holds ample opportunities for growth and development, yet you may find that there is more land than there is competition. We Now Know Why Creepy Bill Gates Invested in All of That US Farmland Bill and Melinda Gates' divorce puts massive farmland holdings in focus I mean, it is unlikely that one of the richest people in the world would invest in something that wasnt a good investment, right? False. The opportunities are virtually endless. Bill Gates is in the money flow business, and farmland, as well as other land, can generate a lot of money. Bill Gates shoots down rumored Chinese link to N.D. farmland And the firm said its very supportive of sustainable farming. According to landreport.com, the Gates family has a total of 242,000 in farmland acreage in the United States. How much property does Bill Gates own? - Housing News The area off Interstate 10, called Belmont, has space for 80,000 homes as well as more than 4,000 acres for schools, offices, and stores; and 3,400 acres of open space. (Ruth Fremson/The New York Times) (Ruth Fremson / The New York Times via Redux Pictures), John Quarterman on his farm in Lowndes County, Ga. (Matt Odom / for NBC News), John Quarterman stands by the Withlacoochee River. North Dakotans Freak Over Bill Gates Land-Buying Mystery - Yahoo! He said that this is where large tracts of rich farmland is used to raise livestock and grow many of the vegetables that end up in grocery aisles up and down the East Coast. Last year, Cascade Investment made a second major investment in Arizona by acquiring more than 2,800 acres known as Spurlock Ranch in Buckeye for $25 million, that could be built out to include 8,500 homes. Bill Gates' 20,000 acres in Nebraska help make him the top farmland owner in the U.S. Christopher Burbach Jan 24, 2021 Updated May 17, 2022 0 1 of 10 This cropland west of Malmo, Nebraska, is. The average person has nothing in common with mega-landowners like Bill Gates or Ted Turner. Behind Gates in terms of investment in farmland are the cofounders of the Wonderful Company, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, with 190,000 acres. It just seemed like a good thing to do., 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, A map has revealed which billionaire owns the most land in the US, and it's not Bill Gates, John Malone owns about 2.2million acres of land across the United States, In comparison, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates owns about 270,000 acres of farmland, Malone is worth an estimated $9.22billion, Meet the largest landowner in the US as map reveals stunning amount of land billionaire owns and its not Bill Gates.
, an annual survey of the nations largest landowners. Financial titans like Prudential and Hancock have divisions specifically for investors looking to make money on farmland portfolios. But why do a handful of people own so much land? But he didn't, Quarterman said. FILE - Bill Gates attends a discussion during the 'Munich Security Conference' in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. Those animals, which are sacred to my people and were nearly hunted to extinction by settlers, are preserved today on nearly 200,000 acres of Turners ranchland within the boundaries of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty territory in the western half of what is now the state of South Dakota, land that was once guaranteed by the US government to be a permanent home for Lakota people. In total he owns 268,984 acres of land of all types in 19 states, including a suburb up for development - as a so-called 'smart city' - outside Phoenix, Arizona. In north Louisiana, the Gateses investment firm owns about 70,000 acres of land through at least three other shell companies. Buffalo Bill Cody's Ranch in Cody, Wyoming: Undisclosed Sale Price (Listed for $8.9 Million). Weve never been one of the big institutional buyers of single family homes, BlackRock said in response to one tweet. 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. buying an increasing share of the U.S. housing market. When pressed during a book discussion on Reddit about why hes gobbling up so much farmland, Gates claimed, It is not connected to climate [change]. The decision, he said, came from his investment group. Cascade Investment, the firm making these acquisitions, is controlled by Gates.