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. 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. You just have to keep it relatively clean, mow it, and pay property taxes. The Microsoft co-founder faced several claims that he owned a majority of Americas farmland earlier this year. 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. Almost 300,000 acres is a lot of land for one family or private individual to own, but it's still just a. As the population grows in large cities, some people will inevitably want to move to the country. Housecall is the official blog of RISMedia, covering real estate news and information for agents, brokers and their clients. The couple also snapped up an oceanfront home in San Diego County, California, last year, for a record making $43 million. To put that into perspective, thats nearly the size of Hong Kong and twice the acreage of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, where Im an enrolled member. 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. Inside Bill Gates' $80BILLION property empire - The US Sun Marjorie Taylor Greene SHAMES Former . ', Cascade did not elaborate on the agricultural land purchases other than to say that the company is 'very supportive of sustainable farming.'. The potential is endless. Bill Gates' 242,000 Acres of Farmland Could Be Split in Divorce At this valuation, Gates likely paid close to $2 billion for the luxury-hotel business. 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 an interview with CNBC, Malone said that his biggest motivation for purchasing land was preservation and he said he hopes to buy more. Stan Kroenke: Land area: 1.4 million acres. 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. The billionaire couple, in less than a decade, have accumulated more than 269,000 acres of farmland across 18 states, more than the entire acreage of New York City. In fact, he owns some of the land that produces potatoes used to make McDondalds french fries. And Bill Gates new book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster positions himself as a thought leader in how to stop putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and how to fund what he has called elsewhere a global green revolution to help poor farmers mitigate climate change. Nor does he put in the back-breaking labor humble people do to grow our food and who get far less praise for it. Bill Gates now the biggest owner of farmland in the US Gates is not the only billionaire on The Land Report 's list of top private farmland owners. 07:04 GMT 16 Jan 2021. Bill Gates is in the money flow business, and farmland, as well as other land, can generate a lot of money. The family's 1.7 million acres of land are primarily spread across Washington, Oregon, and California. With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. 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. Lemmon Holdings, the billionaire spent $80 million to purchase. The acquisitions are held directly, as well as through Gates' personal investment entity, Cascade Investments. Land will likely never be a bad investment, as long as the land is healthy and properly located. He owns 2m acres and has the worlds largest privately owned buffalo herd. Bill Gates had managed to purchase nearly 269,000 acres of land in more than 12 states in the US. It also offers proven return rates. 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. While Gates is Americas biggest farmland owner, hes far from being the nations largest landowner in general. More surprising, however, was the fact that Bill and Melinda Gates own more private farmland . The average person has nothing in common with mega-landowners like Bill Gates or Ted Turner. 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. Our inventory spans mostly in the western United States. As of 2020, industry reports show he owned about 0.027% 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. Do whatever you want to with the land as the value increases. Reed family: Land area: 1.7 million acres. Bill Gates acquired six parcels of land in Pembina County. America's Biggest Owner Of Farmland Is Now Bill Gates - Forbes The Associated Press reports that last week, billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates was cleared to purchase 2,100 acres of rural North Dakota farmland. That means Gates, whose net worth is estimated at some $134 billion. His firms largest farmland acquisition happened in 2017, when it acquired 61 farming properties from a Canadian investment firm to the tune of $500m. Agriculture is also a key focus area for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the massive charity run by Gates and his wife. Additionally, through his personal investment firm, Cascade, Bill Gates owns approximately half of the Four Season Holdings' hotel chain. The opportunities are virtually endless. Malone also has 25% shares in Liberty Global, the largest international cable company with just under 30million subscribers, and owns 8% of the Atlanta Braves baseball team. In 2009, the Gates' reportedly purchased a ranch in Wyoming that once belonged to Buffalo Bill Cody. Farm Gates - Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal The foundation aims to support country-led inclusive agricultural transformation across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, according to its website. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. 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. Farmland can be an investment in several ways. How much property does Bill Gates own? - Housing News 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 [] 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. Bill Gates currently owns over 268,000 acres of American farmland spread out over 19 states. A hint at Gates huge farm holdings emerged in a 2014 Wall Street Journal profile of Michael Larson, the money manager who serves as Cascades chief investment officer. So why did the Land Report dub him Farmer Bill this year? In 2014, he reportedly purchased more than 4,500 acres in Suwannee County, Florida, for nearly $28 million. His first major purchase was Bell Ranch in New Mexico, a 290,100-acre plain saturated with mesas, rimrock canyons, pastures and a bell-shaped mountain. . Seems like there could be a lot to benefit more of their charities by selling some of this off. Its a hedging strategy, said Daniel Bigelow, a professor of agricultural economics at Montana State University, who previously served as a USDA research economist. The tech mogul, who is the. The 14,000 acres in Washington is used for potatoes and in Florida the land is used for carrots. Gates achievement, according to the report, is that hes largest private owner of farmland in the US. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates finally revealed the reasons behind his massive purchase of farmland: seed science and biofuel development. Well, youd think, if you're looking for somebody with enough capital to try that, he would go first. Bill Gates shoots down rumored Chinese link to N.D. farmland Bill Gates was quietly becoming the biggest private owner of farmland in the United States. 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In 1994 Bill and Melinda Gates are said to have hired Michael Larson to help them diversify their property portfolio. Bill Gates owns massive parcels of farmland. It's not part of his plans Bill Gates may be trading his pocket protector for cowboy boots. Farmer Bill. Bill Gates top private farmland owner in US. This map shows that area as a rectangle that can be dragged. That title goes to John Malone, the former CEO of Tele-Communications Inc, which was purchased by AT&T Inc in 1999 for more than $50billion. Bill Gates owns more private farmland in the US than anyone else, an analysis by The Land Report found.His 242,000 acres of farmland stretch across 18 states Bill Gates owns farmland in 18 states . Through Sierra Pacific, the family owns some 2 million acres in California and Washington. The agency further found that over 50 percent of cropland is rented to farmers who dont own their land. The Gates Foundation said in a statement that its agriculture efforts do not extend to farming in the U.S. One of those farms, Stanley Farms, specialized in Vidalia onions, and another, Coggins Farms, focused on growing carrots. "The agriculture sector is important. He's one of the richest men in the world and the largest individual owner of farmland in the country. You can read more about us, here. Arable land is not just profitable. This means that you can find good deals that may be just the thing you are looking for. But he didn't, Quarterman said. by Harvard Universitys Joint Center for Housing Studies. If the land is owned by the Cascade Investment Group or Cottonwood Ag Management it is likely that Bill Gates may be one of your neighbors. The Microsoft co-founder faced several claims that he owned a majority of America's farmland earlier this year. A few years ago, Bill Gates has announced plans to build a smart city outside of Buckeye in Arizona. Listen to article. 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. Malone owns several ranching and real estate businesses predominantly in Maine, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. Through his subsidiary Mt. In addition, the land is audited to meet sustainability standards including soil health and water management. Bill Gates' North Dakota Land Purchase Sparks Questions Online - Newsweek | Photo by Wikimedia Commons . According to 2021 article from the Land Report, a magazine about land ownership, Gates owns approximately 242,000 . Bruere said some states such as Iowa enforce foreign ownership restrictions to prohibit foreign ownership or limit . Its uncertain why Gates has invested in so much farmland or how his tracts are currently being used. Raw land is not developed. The conservation of lands is important, he said. Maps Mania: The United Gates of America - Blogger 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. Theres a more cynical calculation. 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). Although the sale price has never been made public, the 492-acre home was listed for $8.9 millionand we cant imagine Bill and Melinda doing much haggling. Is Bill Gates your farming neighbor? - Farm Progress 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. Quarterman guessed that may be because Bill Gates isnt the one doing the farming. A white man owns more farmland than my entire Native nation! (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. 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. 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. It is possible to make high double digit returns on land that you bought for an affordable price only a few years prior. Our inventory spans five western states. In north Louisiana, the Gateses investment firm owns about 70,000 acres of land through at least three other shell companies. The opportunities are virtually endless. One of the Gates favorite vacation homes is in the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana. Bill Gates has never been a farmer. Weve answered hundreds of questions from people regarding the buying and use of land. 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. *According to figures compiled by The Land Report in 2019. 2,167 acres. He also owns three hotels in Dublin, Ireland, and a fourth in Limerick. The comments below have not been moderated, By 4. 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. askBAMLand.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. The United States is defined by the excesses of its ruling class. But they're just renting it. 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. You can also look at local resources in your area to see where land is being bought or sold. 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. Whose land is it anyway? Farmers, billionaires, foreign investors This means that you can find good deals that may be just the thing you are looking for. Renewable energy company Savion has an option to buy the property for what . Bill Gates is investing big in American farmland | Crosscut Thats why lands still managed by Indigenous peoples worldwide protect and sustain 80% of the worlds biodiversity, practices anathema to industrial agriculture. The Land Report revealed that Gates, who has a net worth of nearly $121 billion according to Forbes, has built up a massive farmland . Michelle, has two of its largest vineyards in that AVA: Canoe Ridge Vineyard and Columbia Crest Vineyard. The 66,000-square-foot home overlooks Lake Washington and, although there is no exact estimate of the homes value currently, it had a total assessed value of $147.5 million on 2009 property tax documents. 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. His 242,000 acres of farmland stretch across 18 states from Washington to Florida,. 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. Why Is Bill Gates Buying Farmland? How Much Does He Own? - Farmfolio 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. Now Bill Gates appears to have acquired a slice of their tiny city, and locals near. (Google Maps), Image: The building housing the offices of Cascade Investment in Kirkland, Wash., on May 22, 2021. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'askbamland_com-leader-1','ezslot_8',107,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-askbamland_com-leader-1-0'); Even if you buy the land with the purpose of selling it at a later time when the area undergoes more development, you can still use the land in the meantime. Bill Gates owns more land than all of the entire city of New Why Bill Gates Is Buying Up U.S. A Grimmway Farms employee moves a water pipe at one of their carrot farms in the Antelope Valley near Lancaster, Calif., in 2004. The map shows a 242,000 acre square situated over New York. 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. Gates diversified his investment portfolio through land ownership, but why? False. Bill Gates' 20,000 acres in Nebraska help make him the top farmland Mason notes that trying to draw hard lines between ones philanthropic work and ones investments does not work. He also purchased the 800-acre Bridlewood Farms in Florida. Nick Estes is a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. Farmer Bill - The Land Report