You say Bill Gates and immediately algorithms, technology, incomprehensible mathematical calculations and screens of any kind of cutting-edge device spring to mind. Few people know, however, that, at 242,000 acres, Bill Gates is the largest owner of private farmland in the United States. For years, according to The Land Report Gates, one of the richest men in the world with a net worth of nearly $ 21 billion according to Forbes, has been acquiring agricultural land in states like Florida and Washington.
This year the size of Mr Gates’ huge land portfolio that spans as many as 18 states. The largest properties of the American billionaire are in Louisiana (69,071 acres), Arkansas (47,927 acres) and Nebraska (20,588 acres) and, in addition, has a stake in 25,750 acres of transitional land west of Phoenix, Arizona. According to the authoritative magazine addressed to those who have an interest in owning agricultural land, the properties of Gates are held both directly and through third parties such as Cascade Investments, which is the personal investment vehicle of Gates. Cascade also includes other investments such as Ecolab, a food safety company, used car dealer Vroom and the Canadian National Railway. It may come as a surprise that the one who became a billionaire thanks to technology and foresight in this sector is also the largest owner of overseas farmland, but this is not Mr. Gates’ first agricultural initiative.
In fact, already in 2008 the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had allocated $ 306 million in grants to support and promote sustainable high-yield agriculture for small farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, in addition to having further invested in climate-resistant “super-crops” and high-yielding dairy cows. Furthermore, the foundation last year gave birth to Gates Ag One, a non-profit organization that aims to carry out these projects. It is still not entirely clear how Gates’ land is being used or whether some are set aside for conservation. Surely, however, the land will be destined for projects in line with the philosophy of the Foundation, Cottonwood Ag Management, one of the subsidiaries of Cascade is in fact a member of Leading Harvest, a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable agriculture standards to protect crops. soil and water resources. The Microsoft founder isn’t the only American multi-billionaire on The Land Report’s list of top farmland owners : Wonderful Company co-founders Stewart and Lynda Resnick ranked third and use their 190,000 acres to produce. products for their brands including POM Wonderful, Wonderful Pistachios and Wonderful Halos.
Gates is the largest owner of private agricultural land, but he is by no means the largest individual agricultural owner. In the list of the top 100 landowners The Land Report ranks John Malone, president of Liberty Media, which owns 2.2 million acres of ranches and forests, third with 2 million acres is Ted Turner, founder of CNN and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos ranks 25th with his 420,000-acre property primarily in West Texas.