Bill Gates Becomes the Largest Farmland Owner in the United States: Report (2024)

Bill Gates now owns the most farmland of anyone in the United States, according to a recent report from The Land Report.

The outlet reported this week that Gates, 65, owns 268,984 acres of land combined across 19 states. Of that number, 242,000 acres are of farmland, 25,750 acres are of transitional land and 1,234 acres are of recreational land, according to the report.

States Gates owns land in include Washington, California, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Of those states, Gates owns the most land in Louisiana, where he is proprietor of more than 69,000 acres. The transitional land he owns in Arizona is reportedly being built into a suburb.

The land is reportedly held by Gates' Cascade Investments, according to The Land Report.

Gates' Cascade Investments did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

While Gates owns the most farmland, he does not own the most land total in the U.S.: John Malone takes that title, owning 2.2 million acres of land, according to The Land Report's list of Top 100 landowners.

Gates is worth $121 billion, according to Forbes, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private charity in the world.

The foundation has donated millions of dollars in grants to promote sustainable agriculture in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and launched the non-profit Gates Ag One in 2020 to "speed up efforts to provide smallholder farmers in developing countries, many of whom are women, with access to the affordable tools and innovations they need to sustainably improve crop productivity and adapt to the effects of climate change."

Bill Gates Becomes the Largest Farmland Owner in the United States: Report (2024)

FAQs

Bill Gates Becomes the Largest Farmland Owner in the United States: Report? ›

AP'S ASSESSMENT: False. The billionaire tech mogul and philanthropist has quietly amassed nearly 270,000 acres of farmland across the country, but that's still a relatively small slice of the nation's nearly 900 million total farm acres.

Who is the largest farmland owner in the United States? ›

Bill Gates is currently the US's most significant private farmland owner, with 242,000 acres of farmland in 18 states. His foundation promotes advanced eco-friendly farming and the sustainability of farmland.

Who owned the most farmland? ›

Bill Gates, the billionaire founder and former CEO of Microsoft, is known for his vast wealth, extreme philanthropy and, in recent years, he's become known for owning the most U.S. farmland.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Dong Thiel

Last Updated:

Views: 6353

Rating: 4.9 / 5 (79 voted)

Reviews: 94% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Dong Thiel

Birthday: 2001-07-14

Address: 2865 Kasha Unions, West Corrinne, AK 05708-1071

Phone: +3512198379449

Job: Design Planner

Hobby: Graffiti, Foreign language learning, Gambling, Metalworking, Rowing, Sculling, Sewing

Introduction: My name is Dong Thiel, I am a brainy, happy, tasty, lively, splendid, talented, cooperative person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.