He is an assistant professor in the American studies department at the University of New Mexico. These billionaires have nothing to offer us in terms of saving the planet unless its our land back. CNN founder Ted Turner owns 2 million acres of land largely in New Mexico, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Georgia. Land holds ample opportunities for growth and development, yet you may find that there is more land than there is competition. This means that there is not much to maintain on it unless you want to add your own buildings or other property. There farmers primarily grow soybeans, rice, corn and cotton. Private Residence at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana: Estimated $5-25 Million. So what is this guy planning? 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. Quarterman guessed that may be because Bill Gates isnt the one doing the farming. 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. "The agriculture sector is important. 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. Gates achievement, according to the report, is that hes largest private owner of farmland in the US. They add it will take those with large parcels of land, like the Gateses U.S. farmland holdings, to do it. Like other investment opportunities, you can find land for sale online. 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. Weve been trained by experience, land acquisition courses, and hundreds of hours meeting with county assessors and clerks, zoning officials, realtors, and land investors. 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. Farmer Bill. It also offers proven return rates. 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. Bill Gates does not own the majority of U.S. farmland. 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. While Gates owns nearly 270,000 acres of farmland across the US, he isnt the largest landowner in the country. 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. You may have heard that Bill Gates owns a lot of land, but you may not know how much. 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. A 2018 purchase of 14,500 acres of prime eastern Washington farmland which is traditional Yakama territory for $171m helped him get that title. Seems like there could be a lot to benefit more of their charities by selling some of this off. But, As of February 2021, Gates has made headlines across the wor. 07:04 GMT 16 Jan 2021. 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). Bruere said some states such as Iowa enforce foreign ownership restrictions to prohibit foreign ownership or limit . Media billionaire Ted Turner has also invested in 2 million acres of land (much of it rangeland and prairie, rather than cropland) and earned the distinction of being the largest private owner of buffalo herds that roam the 200,000 acres of his private ranch, The Guardian reported. According to landreport.com, the Gates family has a total of 242,000 in farmland acreage in the United States. The land that Bill Gates owns is used to grow soybeans, corn, cotton, and rice over 70,000 acres in northern Louisiana. 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. Bill and Melinda Gates also cracked the Land Report's Top 100 Landowners for the first time coming in at number 49. Malone's 2.2 million acres are largely located in Maine, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming and include profitable cattle ranches. Adding to the confusion, Blackstone was once a major investor in BlackRock, but sold off its stake in the 1990s. Nick Estes is a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. 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. The 1862 Homestead Act opened up 270m acres of Indigenous territory which amounts to 10% of US land for white settlement. Bill and Melinda bought this massive mansion in the Coachella Valley for $12.5 million in 1999. Single-family homes are priced between $5-25 million. Since then, it has been revealed that the two never signed a prenuptial agreement, instead opting for a separation agreement. The process of splitting the couples assets will be a mammoth task. He hoped Gates would have invested in different farming techniques that could help turn around the ecological damages from big agriculture. We know that one of the best ways to sequester carbon is through the soil. The option expires Oct. 31, 2024. We loved familys outdoor adventures so much we started a land business just to help others buy their own land. Gates' purchase averaged $12,000 per acre. 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. On Friday, a showdown between two of the largest agricultural landowners in the United Statesthe Church of Latter-Day Saints and Bill Gates ' wealth management firmcame . 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. He owns 2m acres and has the worlds largest privately owned buffalo herd. 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. There is only a certain amount of land available on earth. Today, Bill Gates owns 242,000 acres of farmland in 19 states. Farmland offers a strategy that is completely separated from his other wealth and investments. , said his investment group was behind the purchases, and suggested it was linked to seed and biofuel development. You can email us at contact@askbamland.com. Financial titans like Prudential and Hancock have divisions specifically for investors looking to make money on farmland portfolios. The attraction that people have to investing in farmland is that it tends to be countercyclical to the stock market. This map shows that area as a rectangle that can be dragged. They own the soil where the potatoes in McDonald's french fries grow, the carrots from the world's largest . Right? the latest American Housing Survey by the Census Bureau. AP'S ASSESSMENT: False. Tuesday, the office of the Attorney General sent out a letter asking the Red River Trust to confirm how the company plans to use the land . Bill Gates owns more private farmland in the US than anyone else, an analysis by The Land Report found. Through his subsidiary Mt. The farmland was purchased through a constellation of companies that all link back to the couples investment group, Cascade Investments, based in Kirkland, Washington. His largest holding is in Louisiana (69,071 acres), followed by Arkansas (47,927 acres) and Arizona (25,750 acres). retail, office buildings, hotels and apartment complexes, rather than single-family homes, but he declined to provide a breakdown. Bill Gates now owns the most farmland of anyone in the United States, according to a recent report from The Land Report . FILE - Bill Gates attends a discussion during the 'Munich Security Conference' in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022. Thats where the Gateses began buying land in 2013 through two limited liability corporations registered to an address in Kirkland by Derek Yurosek, then head of agriculture operations for Cascade. Apparently Bill Gates now owns almost 242,000 acres of land in the United States. With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. While he owns nearly half of the Four Season Holding's hotel chain through Cascade, he also has partial ownership of Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cascade Investments declined to comment on its interest in acquiring so much American farmland, but a spokesperson for the firm, Charles V. Zehren said it is very supportive of sustainable farming. He pointed out that in 2020, the acreage that Bill Gates firm owns was all enrolled in a sustainability program. He added: 'In addition, the states oldest winery, Chateau Ste. One of those farms, Stanley Farms, specialized in Vidalia onions, and another, Coggins Farms, focused on growing carrots. 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. Properties up for grabs include a $123million mansion with a trampoline room and a $43million oceanfront mansion with a ten-person jacuzzi. 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. Bill and Melinda bought this massive mansion in the Coachella Valley for $12.5 million in 1999. Land holds ample opportunities for growth and development, yet you may find that there is more land than there is competition. , updated One of the Gates' favorite vacation homes is in the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana. While he owns a significant amount, it is a relatively small slice of the nations nearly 900 million total farm acres. Bill Gates: America's Top Farmland Owner | The Land Report. So why did the Land Report dub him Farmer Bill this year? The 13,573-square-foot home has six bedrooms, 11 bedrooms and more luxury features than you can count. I mean, it is unlikely that one of the richest people in the world would invest in something that wasnt a good investment, right? Arable land is not just profitable. 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. In 2010 the Gates Foundation Trust invested about $23 million in Monsanto, the genetically modified seed and chemical company, though it sold its shares the next year following outcry from environmental groups. There, on Gates parcels, an industrial farm grows potatoes for McDonalds french fries. 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. If you are unsure where to start, you can also check country tax sales. 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. You may also be interested in why a billionaire wants land.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'askbamland_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_2',102,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-askbamland_com-medrectangle-3-0'); Bill Gates is one of the largest farmland owners in the United States. 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. It may even be easier to sell smaller lots than it would be to market the entire portion of land that you invest in. They said farmland has been a popular investment for a long time because of its stability. | Photo by Wikimedia Commons . 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. Some raw land may even be as affordable as a few thousand dollars, which can be an affordable and cost-effective investment strategy (or just a place to use for personal reasons). ', In 2008, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced $306 million in grants designed to boost the yields and incomes of millions of small farmers in Africa as well as 'other parts of the developing world so they can lift themselves and their families out of hunger and poverty.'. According to Forbes, the worlds billionaires saw their wealth swell by $1.9tn in 2020, while more than 22 million US workers (mostly women) lost their jobs. Gates is not the only billionaire on The Land Report 's list of top private farmland owners. Bill Gates has invested in various high-profile commercial properties through his personal investment company, Cascade. 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,. What Is The Banking Process To Buy Raw Land, Price Of Agricultural Land In The Philippines. The conservation of lands is important, he said. Gates has been buying land like its going out of style. The piece noted that the firm owns at least 100,000 acres of farmland in California, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana and other states or an area seven times bigger than Manhattan.. Nor does he put in the back-breaking labor humble people do to grow our food and who get far less praise for it. The foundation aims to support country-led inclusive agricultural transformation across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, according to its website. After all, few can out-bid Bill Gates. The map shows a 242,000 acre square situated over New York. But billionaire class assertions that they are philosopher kings and climate-conscious investors who know better than the original caretakers are little more than ruses for what amounts to a 21st century land grab with big payouts in a for-profit economy seeking green solutions. Weve never been one of the big institutional buyers of single family homes, BlackRock said in response to one tweet. In 2014, Cascade Investments combined both of those companies and the land into Generations Farms, which continued to grow vegetables. 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 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. Estate in Indian Wells, California: $12.5 Million. The private residential area is home to numerous A-list celebrity couples including Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel. They bought and later sold an additional 6,000 acres in Georgia, NBC News found. 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 Nebraska where he owns 20,000 acres, it is used for soybeans. Our inventory spans five western states. Bill and Melinda Gates, who recently announced they're getting divorced and are dividing their assets, are deeply invested in American agriculture. Through our professional experience in land acquisition, we have found that people buy and sell land for many different reasons and have learned that it can be an investment for profit, vacation, or any opportunity that suits your needs and desires. Beach House in Del Mar, California: $43 Million. Which is where the Bill Gates' Land Ownership interactive map comes in. BlackRock also suggested it was being confused for the similarly-named investment management firm Blackstone, which until recently owned Invitation Homes. The acquisition, however . A 2018 purchase of 14,500 acres of prime eastern Washington farmland - which is traditional. In addition, the land is audited to meet sustainability standards including soil health and water management. 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. Public records suggest Cascade Investments has bought its farmland through a web of at least 22 limited liability shell companies across the country. Since 2017 he reportedly holds a significant stake in 24,800 acres of land on the west side of Phoenix. 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. For five generations, the Reed Family has owned and operated the logging company Green Diamond Resource Co. Wealth accumulation always goes hand-in-hand with exploitation and dispossession. The firm is a shareholder in Dallas-based Invitation Homes, which owns nearly 80,000 single-family rentals nationwide. 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. 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. 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. Both companies were founded in 2012 with the same address as Cascade Investments in Kirkland, which later changed its mailing address to a Louisiana post office box assigned to Oak River Farms, another subsidiary of Cascade. 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Our exposure to Invitation Homes is owning its stock in mutual funds we manage, not buying houses w/ them,. Now you have a foundation where the mission on one side is to save the world and to do all these wonderful things surrounding climate, and on the other side theyre investing in the exact same things that are causing the harm that the mission side is trying to protect, Mason said.