According to Forbes magazine, Bill Gates, the world’s fourth richest man and founder of Microsoft, has quietly purchased 242,000 acres of farmland across the United States, making him the largest private owner of farmland in the country.
The Land Report, a quarterly magazine that focuses on land investment, revealed that Bill Gates has built a large portfolio of farmland in 18 states. According to Fubis, his net worth is nearly $121 billion.
The states where he owns the most farmland are Louisiana (69,071 acres), Arkansas (47,927 acres) and Nebraska (25,088 acres). In addition, he holds a stake in 25,750 acres of transitional land west of Phoenix, Arizona, which is being developed as a new suburb.
According to Land Report research, Bill Gates holds the land directly or through third-party entities through his private investment firm, Cascade Investments. Cascade Investments’ other investments include food safety company Ecolab, used car retailer Vroom and Canadian National Railway.
While it may be surprising that the tech billionaire is also the largest landowner of farmland in the U.S., this is not Bill Gates’ only foray into agriculture. In 2008, he and his wife’s Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave $306 million to help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia develop high-yield, sustainable agriculture.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is further investing in the development and reproduction of climate-resilient “super crops” and high-yielding dairy cattle. Last year the foundation announced the formation of GatesAg One, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing these efforts.
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