When fully developed the area could be home to 200,000 residents and be similar in size to the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, The Land Report said. But Zehren of Cascade noted that the firm has been working in Florida and elsewhere to promote ecologically conscious agriculture and that it plans to continue to evaluate its farmland portfolio to improve its overall sustainability. | Chuck Collins, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Land is power, land is wealth, and, more importantly, land is about race and class. The trend worries young farmers who cannot compete with the likes of Bill Gates when buying land, according to Holly Rippon-Butler, a farmer in upstate New York and the land campaigns director at the National Young Farmers Coalition. The 13,573-square-foot home has six bedrooms, 11 bedrooms and more luxury features than you can count. Nick Estes is a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. In north Louisiana, the Gateses investment firm owns about 70,000 acres of land through at least three other shell companies. It makes no sense.. 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. The 1862 Homestead Act opened up 270m acres of Indigenous territory which amounts to 10% of US land for white settlement. Not only is it usable by you, but land can be used for so many different things. Since it works as an investment for him, it also includes the benefits of using land as an investment like he does. by Harvard Universitys Joint Center for Housing Studies. His 242,000 acres of farmland stretch across 18 states from Washington to Florida,. Many people wonder why Bill Gates would make these moves with his investment portfolio. How Much Land Does Bill Gates Own? | askBAMLand Adjusted for inflation, average farm real estate values have generally risen since 1993, growing from less than $1,500 an acre in the mid-90s to over $3,000 an acre in 2020, according to the USDA. The project is in its early . 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. The January 11 issue of The Land Report is worth reading. BlackRock, meanwhile, is also not the owner of the majority of single family houses in the country. Bill Gates may no longer be the world's richest man, but he can claim a new title: America's farmland king. If you said investment, then you are right. Can you imagine having that much property? BILL Gates' $80billion property empire now hangs in the balance after he and his wife of 27 years announced they are divorcing. Bill Gates is America's biggest owner of private farmland, and his According to O'Keefe, Gates isn't the only one making moves on the farmland market, especially as farm real estate values nationwide increased 7% from 2020 to $3,390 per acre. 07:04 GMT 16 Jan 2021. Seems like there could be a lot to benefit more of their charities by selling some of this off. This way, the land will remain productive and healthy, while also becoming a money-driving investment. Bill Gates owns massive parcels of farmland. It's not part of his plans 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. Reed family: Land area: 1.7 million acres. Ownership of Angelina Plantation Farms, which sits among three wildlife areas in Monterey with a view of Bayou Cocodrie, and other property has been a . 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. 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. Bill Gates' North Dakota Land Purchase Sparks Questions Online - Newsweek Bill and Melinda Gates own 70,000 acres of Louisiana farmland - NOLA As more and more land becomes developed, less and less raw land is available, which potentially increases the value as demand remains the same or even increases. The 229-acre property was once home to Jenny Craig, founder of the Jenny Craig nutrition company, and was purchased by the Gates with hopes that it would one day be where their daughter Jennifer could train for her equestrian career. While land is a limited resource, there is still less competition for raw land than there is with residential and commercial real estate. Bill Gates is best known for revolutionizing personal computing, but lately he's gotten back to the land. 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. It is unclear why Gates, better known as a self-confessed computing 'nerd', has invested in farmland so heavily, and details of the land are scarce,as revealed in The Land Report. One of the Gates' favorite vacation homes is in the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana. Stan Kroenke: Land area: 1.4 million acres. The acquisitions are held directly, as well as through Gates' personal investment entity, Cascade Investments. But theyre far better known for their work in tech and in trying to save the climate. Bill Gates is now the largest private landowner in the country. The Emmerson family owns and operates Sierra Pacific Industries, a company that logs usable lumber after forest fires and sells it to lumber retailers. Farmland can be an investment in several ways. (Matt Odom / for NBC News), Image: John Quarterman (Matt Odom / for NBC News), Image: Philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates and his wife Melinda listen to the speech by French President Francois Hollande, prior to being awarded Commanders of the Legion of Honor at the Elysee Palace in Paris (Kamil Zihnioglu / Pool via Reuters), American businessman and philanthropist (born 1955). "The agriculture sector is important. The biggest chunks of Gates holdings are in Louisiana and Arkansas, where he owns 69,071 acres and 47,927 acres, respectively, the outlets research found. We know that one of the best ways to sequester carbon is through the soil. Why Is Bill Gates Buying Farmland? How Much Does He Own? - Farmfolio BlackRock is sometimes confused w/ Blackstone, which owned Invitation Homes. Estate in Indian Wells, California: $12.5 Million. The farmland real estate investment trust (REIT) Farmland Partners, which owns 156,500 acres in 16 US states, has seen its traded value more than double since November and is trading near an. We loved familys outdoor adventures so much we started a land business just to help others buy their own land. Bill Gates is buying up the majority of American farmland and BlackRock is buying the majority of single family houses but Im supposed to believe the biggest threat to us is Elon Musk buying Twitter? read one representative tweet thats been liked or shared on the platform more than 250,000 times. Cascade did not immediately respond to a phone message Friday, and the company declined to comment to The Land Report other than to say that Cascade is very supportive of sustainable farming, the outlet said. Since 2017 he reportedly holds a significant stake in 24,800 acres of land on the west side of Phoenix. 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. Although the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is not directly connected with Cascade or its investments, it also has a farmland initiative: Gates Ag One, established in the Greater St. Louis area, with a mission to help 'smallholder farmers adapt to climate change and make food production in low- and middle-income countries more productive, resilient, and sustainable. Malone owns several ranching and real estate businesses predominantly in Maine, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. Land holds ample opportunities for growth and development, yet you may find that there is more land than there is competition. But some farmers whose land is adjacent to that of the Gateses have expressed disappointment that despite the couples wealth, they have not done more to preserve the environment. Farmland in those parts is valuable, commanding prices between $10,000 and $15,000 per acre, far beyond the state average of about $2,000. Bill Gates owns more private farmland in the US than anyone else, an analysis by The Land Report found. 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. He backed Impossible Foods, which relies on genetically modified soybeans, and also held shares of Beyond Meat through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, though SEC filings show those shares were sold in 2019. Now Bill Gates appears to have acquired a slice of their tiny city, and locals near. Here is the . McDonald's french fries, carrots, onions: all of the foods that come 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. In an interview with CNBC, Malone said that his biggest motivation for purchasing land was preservation and he said he hopes to buy more. Bill Gates now owns the most farmland of anyone in the United States, according to a recent report from The Land Report . Someone else is building that equity on their back, said Johnathan Hladik, the policy director at the Center for Rural Affairs, who is also a farmer in Nebraska. John Malone is the largest private landowner in the United States. Bill Gates shoots down rumored Chinese link to N.D. farmland Social media users are falsely claiming that Gates owns the majority of U.S. farmland. By This could give you a place to relax or to even build a small vacation home. The Microsoft co-founder is considered the largest private owner of farmland in the country with some 269,000 acres across dozens of states, according to last years edition of. If youre looking at what this means for farmers on the ground looking to access land, theres significant competition from nonfarmers, and that really affects young farmers because it means that the price that theyre trying to compete with on the marketplace is driven and determined by people who are not dependent on a farming income, Rippon-Butler said. Single-family homes are priced between $5-25 million. He owns significantly more farmland than Minnesota's Offutt family and California's Resnick family, which each own 190,000 acres and rank second equal on the list. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates finally revealed the reasons behind his massive purchase of farmland: seed science and biofuel development. That program ensures agriculture on the land is audited to meet standards, like soil health and water management, created by the nonprofit Leading Harvest, which counts one of the subsidiaries of Gates investment firm as a partner. We've received your submission. 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. Mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California: $18 Million. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'askbamland_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_7',108,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-askbamland_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0'); While the land that Bill Gates owns is already developed for farming and likely costs a ton of money, land can also be quite affordable. Beach House in Del Mar, California: $43 Million. Bill Gates has invested in various high-profile commercial properties through his personal investment company, Cascade. Quarterman guessed that may be because Bill Gates isnt the one doing the farming. What Land Does Bill Gates Own In Michigan? - PartyShopMaine - 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. The value depends on a lot of factors including location, type of land, acreage, supply, demand, and more. 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. Much of Turner's land is used as grazing land for over 50,000 head of buffalo the largest private herd of bison in the world. Bill Gates now owns almost 242,000 acres of the continguous USA. We would love to talk to you! We think we now know. 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. Like other investment opportunities, you can find land for sale online. Wealth accumulation always goes hand-in-hand with exploitation and dispossession. All that farming has led to large water withdrawals from Florida's aquifer system and requires fertilizer, which leaches through the ground into waterways, emptying nitrogen that has led to destructive algae blooms and severe loss of fish and marsh habitats. His land ownership spans across 19 states. In enrolling in Leading Harvest, Cascade has implemented new initiatives on its farmland holdings ranging from adding additional pollinator habitat in Nebraska to planting wildlife-friendly trees on dry pivot corners in Florida to hosting grain bin safety rescue training for the local community in Louisiana to converting numerous diesel power units to electric to reduce carbon output, to name a few, Zheren said. Buffalo Bill Cody's Ranch in Cody, Wyoming: Undisclosed Sale Price (Listed for $8.9 Million). The company also took to Twitter to reject the false narrative. So while the tech mogul certainly owns a large constellation of farms, its nowhere close to the majority nationwide. 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 shares 95% of the ownership with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. You may have heard that Bill Gates owns a lot of land, but you may not know how much. Bill Gates is in the money flow business, and farmland, as well as other land, can generate a lot of money. Bill Gates owns a lot of American farmland, but not the majority (Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times via AP file), The buildings of the 100 Circles Farm are at the center of this satellite image. Is Bill Gates your farming neighbor? - Farm Progress In Nebraska where he owns 20,000 acres, it is used for soybeans. That could spell an opportunity for young farmers hoping to get their start, but for savvy investors scrambling for more places to put their money, it also represents an opportunity. So while the tech mogul certainly owns a large constellation of farms, its nowhere close to the majority nationwide. But, As of February 2021, Gates has made headlines across the wor. According to landreport.com, the Gates family has a total of 242,000 in farmland acreage in the United States. 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. The Gates family currently [] Weve never been one of the big institutional buyers of single family homes, BlackRock said in response to one tweet. In fact, this also means that you may not even have to apply for a loan to start the investment! Weve been trained by experience, land acquisition courses, and hundreds of hours meeting with county assessors and clerks, zoning officials, realtors, and land investors. 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. Gates has been buying land like its going out of style. Several Properties in Wellington, Florida: $27.2 Million (Total). (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. Xanadu 2.0 in Medina, Washington: Estimated $140-170 Million, Source: Steve Ringman / The Seattle Times. That land is now largely rented out to various farmers. 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. It also allows you to keep a portion of the land for personal use so you do not have to give up your weekend home or relaxation property. 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. He never did anything that different from before he got here and what other farmers were doing nearby.". BlackRock is sometimes confused w/ Blackstone, which owned Invitation Homes. These billionaires have nothing to offer us in terms of saving the planet unless its our land back. Billionaire owns 38-square miles of farmland in Illinois. The Associated Press reports that last week, billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates was cleared to purchase 2,100 acres of rural North Dakota farmland. A Grimmway Farms employee moves a water pipe at one of their carrot farms in the Antelope Valley near Lancaster, Calif., in 2004. Bill Gates has secured legal approval for the controversial purchase of thousands of acres of prime North Dakota farmland, after the deal drew fury from the state's residents. In other words, when the economy is struggling, the value of farmland generally doesnt depreciate. And that its going to take big swaths of land, like what Bill Gates has taken, to do that, said Konda Mason, the founder and president of Jubilee Justice and Potlikker Capital, which funds and supports regenerative agriculture projects owned by people of color. Members of the Stanley family now work for Generations. Thats why lands still managed by Indigenous peoples worldwide protect and sustain 80% of the worlds biodiversity, practices anathema to industrial agriculture. The Gates Rancho Santa Fe estate was purchased in 2014 because of its horse stables and proximity to a local race horse track. And not all the renters are local. The Case for Bill Gates: Microsoft Corp co-founder is largely considered the biggest private owner of farmland in the U.S. with nearly 270,000 acres. Inside Bill Gates' $80BILLION property empire - The US Sun In fact, he owns some of the land that produces potatoes used to make McDondalds french fries. The Gates Foundation said in a statement that its agriculture efforts do not extend to farming in the U.S. Listen to article. He also owns three hotels in Dublin, Ireland, and a fourth in Limerick. Who owns the most land in America? Jeff Bezos and John Malone are among And we think it will provide good inflation protection in the long run. Not only that, but it fits in with Gates values as a philanthropist because he can keep the farmland healthy for future generations. According to the Land Report 100 Research Team, that figure is currently more than twice that amount, which means Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, has an alter ego: Farmer Bill, the guy who owns more farmland than anyone else in America. How the Mormon Church Beat Bill Gates in a Battle - The Daily Beast The foundation aims to support country-led inclusive agricultural transformation across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, according to its website. That means Gates, whose net worth is estimated at some $134 billion according to Forbes annual ranking of the richest people in the country, owns less than one percent of the nations total farmland. This could allow you to sell or lease the individual lots of land on the property. TRENDING: OUCH! Its a hedging strategy, said Daniel Bigelow, a professor of agricultural economics at Montana State University, who previously served as a USDA research economist. This means that you can find good deals that may be just the thing you are looking for. A MAP has revealed which billionaire owns the largest amount of land in the US - youll be shocked to know that it isnt Bill Gates. If they purchased the rest of their farmland for similar prices, that would put the value of their 242,000 acres at almost $3 billion. 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. But farmer advocates say the Gateses large-scale farm purchases dont make room for smaller farmers to break into the market. Hes the landlord, or rather, the companies owned by his investment firm are the landlords. 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. The opportunities are virtually endless. Land holds ample opportunities for growth and development, yet you may find that there is more land than there is competition. The couple also snapped up an oceanfront home in San Diego County, California, last year, for a record making $43 million. 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. Mason notes that trying to draw hard lines between ones philanthropic work and ones investments does not work. The sale was notable because it added to Gates' farmland holdings which includes large tracts of land in Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, California, and about a dozen other states. Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, has been revealed as the biggest private owner of farmland in the US, after buying up 242,000 acres in 18 states. They own the soil where the potatoes in McDonald's french fries grow, the carrots from the world's largest . The state's Republican Attorney General Drew Wrigley had inquired into the land sale, and on Wednesday issued a letter saying the transaction complied with an archaic anti-corporate [] The Microsoft co-founder is considered the largest private owner of farmland in the country with some 269,000 acres across dozens of states, according to last years edition of the Land Report 100, an annual survey of the nations largest landowners. 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. About 40 percent of farmland is owned by seniors 65 or older, according to 2014 estimates by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, meaning more farmland is expected to come on the market soon. CLAIM: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates owns the majority of Americas farmland and the investment firm BlackRock holds the majority of single family houses in the country. But they're just renting it. 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. So why did the Land Report, Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance.