The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (2024)

The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (1)
The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (2)

While corporations can always offer more stock and government can always issue more bonds, there is one asset that has had a pretty fixed supply on earth for the last several million years: Land. And some Americans own a lot of it. The Land Report publishes an annual ranking of the biggest private landowners in the U.S. as measured by total acreage. According to their most recent list, each of the 10 individuals and families that own the most land hold over a half-million acres each. Many of the biggest landowners are families with deep roots, holding vast swathes of ranch or timberland across the country for decades. Some are more recent entries, with successful business people in industries like telecommunications or fast food investing their wealth in the world’s oldest asset. Below are the 10 biggest private landowners in the U.S. as of 2019, according to The Land Report:

10. Heirs to the King Ranch own 825,000 acres of South Texas land,an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. The King Ranch was started in the mid-19th century by Richard King, a young indentured jeweler who ran away and started a steamboat company in south Texas, according to the Ranch’s website. Over the course of over 160 years, King Ranch led some of the first cattle drives, developed the Santa Gertrudis and Santa Cruz breeds of cattle, bred Quarter Horses, and produced Champion Thoroughbreds. It is a major agribusiness today.

The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (3)

9. The Singleton family owns 1,110,000 acres in New Mexico and California.The family descends from Henry Singleton, who co-founded the industrial conglomerate Teledyne in 1960 and began buying land in the mid-1980s. Now his heirs run the massive Singleton Ranches, headquartered in Santa Fe, one of the nation’s biggest cattle and horse-breeding operations.

The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (4)

8. Brad Kelley owns 1,140,000 (down -10,016) acres in Kentucky,including a legendary horse-racing farm. In 2012, businessman Brad Kelley purchased the fabled Calumet Farm in Kentucky, home to many of the 20th century’s most storied racehorses. Kelley owns over a million acres of ranch land across the U.S. Earlier this year, Kelley listed a series of West Texas ranches with roughly 500,000 acres, as well as a New Mexico ranch with more than 50,000 contiguous deeded acres.

The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (5)

7. Peter Buck, co-founder of Subway, owns approximately 1,236,000 (up +311,000) in Maine.Besides co-founding Subway and being a nuclear physicist, Peter Buck also owns a huge amount of land. After Subway, Buck purchased 925,000 acres of timberland in Maine. Earlier this year, he added 311,000 acres from Birmingham’s McDonald family, elevating Buck from No. 9 to No. 7 on the list of top landholders.

The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (6)

6. The Irving family owns 1,247,880 acres of land in the U.S.,and even more in their native Canada. Lumber returns at number six with J.D. Irving, who founded the family-owned Irving Forest Products in 1882. Irving owns 1.25 million acres of land, employs more than 16,000 workers, and runs 11 sawmills throughout New Brunswick, Maine, and Nova Scotia. The company’s Dixfield sawmill, located in Western Maine, is the largest producer of Eastern White Pine boards for interior and exterior finish applications, according to the company. Dixfield produces 88 million board feet annually.

The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (7)

5. Stan Kroenke owns 1,380,000 acres, including ranch land in Wyoming.Stan Kroenke, owner of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, is next, owning 1.38 million acres of ranch land in Wyoming. He owns several ranches – one of which is called the Q Creek Ranch with 560,000 acres open to paying guests for fishing and hunting.

The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (8)

4. The Reed family owns 1,726,295 (down -2,937) acres of timberland across the northwest and south.The Reed family, who owns the forest products firm Green Diamond Resource Co., owns 1.726 million acres of timberland in the South and Northwest regions of the United States. Green Diamond owns land in eight U.S. states total and prides itself on its strict forestry regulations.

The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (9)

3. Ted Turner, founder of CNN, owns 2,000,000 acres and the largest bison herd in the world.The founder of CNN is the second biggest individual landowner in America. Ted Turner owns 2 million acres of land in the Great Plains. Some 50,000 bison, the largest herd in the world, roam his lands.

The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (10)

2. The Emmerson family owns 2,077,932 (up +121,932) acres of timberland.Sierra Pacific is a third-generation, family-owned forest products company based in Anderson, California. The company is one of the largest privately owned U.S. forest products companies. It is also among the largest U.S. lumber manufacturers and wood window producers.

The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (11)

1. John Malone used his telecom fortune to acquire 2,200,000 acres of land.Like the second-biggest landowner in the country, John Malone made his fortune in telecommunications and media, and was CEO of cable provider Tele-Communications, Inc. According to The Land Report, Malone works to maintain historical structures and traditions on his properties.

The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (12)
The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report (2024)

FAQs

The 10 Biggest Landowners in America – The Van Trump Report? ›

1. EMMERSON FAMILY. The nation's largest private landowners, California's Emmerson family, are a prime example of this trend. Through their Sierra Pacific Industries, the Emmersons increased their landholdings by more than 100 square miles to over 2.4 million acres.

Who is the largest landowner in the United States of America? ›

1. EMMERSON FAMILY. The nation's largest private landowners, California's Emmerson family, are a prime example of this trend. Through their Sierra Pacific Industries, the Emmersons increased their landholdings by more than 100 square miles to over 2.4 million acres.

What is the largest privately owned piece of land in the United States? ›

John Malone – 2,200,000 Acres

Billionaire John Malone has the title of the largest private land owner in the United States.

Is the Catholic Church the largest landowner in the world? ›

After gaining permission from the Vatican, Burhans underwent a comprehensive of bringing the Church into the 21st century. A live database provides a visual of all its land holdings. Conclusion: The Catholic Church owns the most land, far more than McDonald's and billionaire Bill Gates.

How much land does Jeff Bezos own in the US? ›

Some of the world's biggest billionaires are landowners, such as media mogul Ted Turner who owns 2 million acres, Amazon.com's AMZN, -0.66% CEO Jeff Bezos who has amassed 420,000 acres and Microsoft MSFT, +0.47% co-founder Bill Gates's 270,000 acres, he notes.

Who owns the majority of farmland in the United States? ›

People own most farmland. Some 2.6 million owners are individuals or families, and they own more than two thirds of all farm acreage. Fewer than 32,500 non family held corpor ations own farmland, and they own less than 5 percent of all U.S. farmland. Farmland owners hold an aver age of about 280 acres each.

Who is the richest rancher in America? ›

Largest private land owners in the United States in 2021
NameAcres
1Emmerson family2,330,000 2,330,000
2John Malone2,200,000 2,200,000
3Reed family2,100,000 2,100,000
4Ted Turner2,000,000 2,000,000
10 more rows
Aug 16, 2022

What is the largest family owned ranch in the United States? ›

King Ranch, largest ranch in the United States, composed of a group of four tracts of land in southeastern Texas, totaling approximately 825,000 acres (333,800 hectares). The King Ranch was established by Richard King, a steamboat captain born in 1825 in Orange county, New York.

Who owns the most public land in the US? ›

The federal government owns about 640 million acres (2.6 million km2) of land in the United States, about 28% of the total land area of 2.27 billion acres (9.2 million km2).

Who owns the most private land on earth? ›

The Biggest Landowners in the World
RankNameLocations
1King Charles III and the British Royal FamilyUnited Kingdom, Canada
2Catholic ChurchWorldwide
3Inuit People of NunavutCanada
4Gina RinehartAustralia, United States
21 more rows

What religion owns the most land? ›

Roman Catholic Church: 70 million hectares

The largest landowner in the world is not a major oil magnate or a real estate investor. No, it's the Roman Catholic Church. According to lovemoney.com, the church owns more than 70 million hectares. An area that is larger than France.

How much land does McDonald's own in the US? ›

How much land does McDonald's own? The company owns about 45% of the land and 70% of the buildings at their 36,000+ locations (the rest is leased). It's a brilliant strategy. Being able to collect on rents helps insulate them from the ups and downs of the business of flippin' burgers.

Does the pope get a salary? ›

Popes usually get paid hendsomely, the current wage he gets is $32,000 on a monthly basis but he refused to get any of that money. Instead, Pope Francis decided to either donate this money to the church, use it to endow a foundation, placed in trust or pass it on to a family member.

Who owns the most land in Florida? ›

Summary of the 11 Largest Landowners in Florida
RankLandownerAcreage Owned
1The St. Joe Company576,000 acres
2Foley Timber and Land Company562,000 acres
3Plum Creek Timber415,000 acres
4Rayonier Company400,000 acres
7 more rows
May 16, 2023

Who is No 1 richest person in the world? ›

Bernard Arnault

Billionaire, businessman and the chairman and chief executive of LVMH (LVMUY), Bernard Arnault holds the crown as the richest person in the world. According to Forbes, Arnault has a fortune of $217.9 billion.

What company owns the most real estate in the US? ›

The largest real estate company in the USA is Coldwell Banker. Founded in 1906, Coldwell Banker has over 100 years of experience buying and selling homes that they share with the people they work for. It has a total of 3000 offices and even exists in more than 49 countries.

How much of US land is privately owned? ›

Private individuals and corporations own about 60 percent of U.S. land while Federal, State, and local governments own the rest.

Who owns the biggest farm in the world? ›

The largest agricultural landowner is the Chinese dairy farm 'Mudanjiang City Mega Farm', which is owned by Russian and Chinese owners. More than 9 million hectares belong to the company.

How much farmland is left in the US? ›

Over the time period displayed, the total farmland area has decreased by almost 50 million acres, reaching a total of 893.4 million acres as of 2022.

What is the highest salary for a rancher? ›

Farm rancher salaries typically range between $13,000 and $74,000 a year.

Who is the richest farmer ever? ›

Qin is the richest farmer in the world and owns 883 million shares of Muyuan stock, 40.06% of the company.

Why are rich people buying land in Wyoming? ›

The most obvious explanation for the wealthy migration to Wyoming is the tax incentives. The state collects no personal or corporate income tax, and it has one of the nation's lowest sales tax rates (5.36 percent, compared to 8.49 percent in New York).

What is the oldest family owned ranch? ›

Tuttle Farm, now known as Tender Crop, has often been referred to as the oldest family-owned farm in the United States; however, this claim has been challenged. The Shirley Plantation in Charles City, Virginia, was founded in 1613 and has been in operation since 1638.

What is the oldest family owned cattle ranch in America? ›

The Deep Hollow Ranch, established 1658, is the oldest working Cattle Ranch in the United States and is part of the Suffolk County Parks.

What state has the most ranch land? ›

The United States had 895.3 million acres of land in farms in 2021. Texas had the most land in farms in the United States in 2021 followed by Montana and Kansas.

Who owns the second most land in the United States? ›

The largest landowner in Colorado is John Malone, with 270,000 acres, He is the second largest landowner in the United States with 2.2 million acres of property.

Who owns BLM land? ›

The BLM holds the coal mineral estate to more than 570 million acres (2,300,000 km2) where the owner of the surface is the federal government, a state or local government, or a private entity.

Where is the most open land in the United States? ›

Here are the 10 states with the most federal land:
  • Nevada - 84.94%
  • Utah - 64.9%
  • Idaho - 61.63%
  • Alaska - 61.24%
  • Oregon - 52.95%
  • Wyoming - 48.14%
  • California - 45.77%
  • Arizona - 38.61%

Is there any land on Earth that isn't owned? ›

Is there any unclaimed land in the world? Yes, there are many unclaimed lands in the world and the biggest unclaimed territory is Antarctica. Can you claim an unclaimed island? The answer is yes, you can claim unclaimed islands but it is going to be difficult.

Is there any land on Earth not owned by someone? ›

The largest unclaimed territory on Earth is in Antarctica. Marie Byrd Land, a 620,000-square-mile collection of glaciers and rock formations, lies in the western portion of the southernmost continent. Because of its remoteness, no nation has ever claimed it.

What is the largest piece of land owned by one person? ›

John Malone – 2.2 million acres.

What religion has the most millionaires? ›

A study done by the nonpartisan wealth research firm New World Wealth found that 56.2% of the 13.1 million millionaires in the world were Christians, while 6.5% were Muslims, 3.9% were Hindu, and 1.7% were Jewish; 31.7% were identified as adherents of "other" religions or "not religious".

Which religion is richest in earth? ›

List of wealthiest religious organizations
OrganizationWorth (billion USD)Country
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints100.0United States
Sree Venkateswara Swamy Temple30.0India
Catholic Church in Germany26.0Germany
Catholic Church in France23.0France
9 more rows

What billionaire owns the most land? ›

One of the largest landowners in the US is real estate tycoon Stan Kroenke, who owns nearly 1.7 million acres of land scattered over seven states. Ranches, forestry, hunting preserves, and several significant developments are among Kroenke's holdings.

How much land does Queen Elizabeth own? ›

As of March 2022, the Crown Estate reported almost $19 billion in assets. Its holdings include over 287,000 acres of agricultural land and forests, various retail properties across the U.K., almost all of Regent Street, and about 55 percent of U.K. foreshore.

Where does McDonald's make the most money? ›

While its restaurants serve food, the company makes most of its earnings through real estate. It creates revenue through franchise agreements and leasing its restaurants to owners at huge markups over the real estate market value for the property.

Who owns the most McDonald's in the world? ›

The largest shareholder of McDonald's is The Vanguard Group Inc, which has an 8.81% stake in the company valued at $16,994,291,524, at the time of writing. This article will cover McDonald's owners and its largest shareholders. We'll also look at some of the companies that McDonald's owns. The Vanguard Group, Inc.

Does the pope get his balls checked? ›

A cardinal would have the task of putting his hand up the hole to check whether the pope had testicl*s, or doing a visual examination. This procedure is not taken seriously by most historians, and there is no documented instance.

What is the salary of a cardinal? ›

Of the roughly 5,000 people employed in the Roman Curia, the administrative institutions of the Holy See, and in Vatican City State, cardinals have the highest monthly salaries, varying from 4,000 to 5,000 euros, or about $4,700 to $5,900, according to Mimmo Muolo, the author of the 2019 book “The Church's Money.” The ...

Who was the richest pope ever? ›

Pope Alexander VI - Wikipedia.

Who owns most of the properties in America? ›

Who owns the most land in the U.S.? While not private landowners, the U.S. federal government owns about 640 million acres of land, which is 28% of the land in the country. Out of all of the states, Nevada has the highest percentage of federally owned land.

Who owns the most houses in the US? ›

John Malone is the largest private landowner in the United States. 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.

Which state has the most protected land? ›

Which States Have the Most State Parks? California has the most state parks in the country, with 270. There are a total of 3,729 state parks in the United States, with 11 states having more than 100 state parks each.

Who owns the largest cattle ranch in the US? ›

Waggoner Ranch
W. T. Waggoner Estate
CountryUnited States of America
Construction started1849
OwnerStan Kroenke
Grounds510,527 acres
2 more rows

Who owns most property in the world? ›

The Biggest Landowners in the World
RankNameLocations
1King Charles III and the British Royal FamilyUnited Kingdom, Canada
2Catholic ChurchWorldwide
3Inuit People of NunavutCanada
4Gina RinehartAustralia, United States
21 more rows

Why are investors buying up all the houses? ›

Investors piled into the housing market in 2021 due to rock-bottom mortgage rates and surging housing demand, and are now retreating amid projections that home prices have room to fall.

Who owns the richest house in America? ›

In 2019, hedge fund owner Ken Griffin logged the highest amount paid for a residence on record in the US, when he bought a penthouse for $238 million in the lauded limestone tower.

Who owns the most valuable real estate? ›

Rankings by Total Assets
RankProfileTotal Assets
1.China Evergrande Group$367,867,914,300
2.Sunac China$178,587,888,469
3.Tishman Speyer$115,000,000,000
4.Hines Group$90,300,000,000
84 more rows

Why is BlackRock buying all the houses? ›

The company can build equity.

If the company has borrowed money to purchase the house, it can build equity over time, essentially increasing the percentage of the home it owns outright and can then borrow against later on.

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