While those companies dont explicitly name Cascade Investments as the owner in their public records, they do share the address of Cascade in Kirkland, Washington, or the address of a Cascade subsidiary, list the names of Cascade employees who registered the companies and sometimes even email addresses from the Bill and Melinda Gates Investment Group. There, on Gates parcels, an industrial farm grows potatoes for McDonalds french fries. With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. The tech mogul, who is the. However, his largest land holdings are in Louisiana (69,071 acres), Arkansas (47,927 acres), Nebraska (20,588 acres . One of the largest plots of land owned by a subsidiary of the Gateses investment arm in Louisiana, Angelina Plantation, was previously owned by former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers, who died last year, a month after being released from prison. But that could soon change. All that farming has led to large water withdrawals from Florida's aquifer system and requires fertilizer, which leaches through the ground into waterways, emptying nitrogen that has led to destructive algae blooms and severe loss of fish and marsh habitats. They accounted for almost 1% of the agricultural land in the United States. In Nebraska where he owns 20,000 acres, it is used for soybeans. Since then, weve sold to dozens of people from ATV weekend warriors to camping enthusiasts to retired truck drivers. In total, Bill and Melinda Gates have acquired land in more than a dozen states. Land will likely never be a bad investment, as long as the land is healthy and properly located. 23:06 GMT 15 Jan 2021 Weve never been one of the big institutional buyers of single family homes, BlackRock, single-family rentals nationwide. The conservation of lands is important, he said. 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. The Microsoft co-founder faced several claims that he owned a majority of Americas farmland earlier this year. 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. You may have heard that Bill Gates owns a lot of land, but you may not know how much. They bought and later sold an additional 6,000 acres in Georgia, NBC News found. This can potentially earn you tons of money. But Zehren of Cascade noted that the firm has been working in Florida and elsewhere to promote ecologically conscious agriculture and that it plans to continue to evaluate its farmland portfolio to improve its overall sustainability. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'askbamland_com-box-4','ezslot_4',104,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-askbamland_com-box-4-0'); Well, why would you think that a billionaire would want to own land? The billionaire media mogul Ted Turner epitomizes such disparities. Gates owns almost 9,000 acres in Ohio, just over 9,000 acres in Indiana, nearly 18,000 in Illinois, but only 552 acres in Iowa. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Ukrainian soldier takes out five tanks with Javelin missiles, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Moment teenager crashes into back of lorry after 100mph police race. Bill Gates is in the money flow business, and farmland, as well as other land, can generate a lot of money. Bill and Melinda have purchased numerous properties in Wellington, Florida, over the years. It is possible to make high double digit returns on land that you bought for an affordable price only a few years prior. Bill Gates may be trading his pocket protector for cowboy boots. 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. It will not tell you that Bill Gates is your neighbor. The company also took to Twitter to reject the false narrative. In this country, enslaved Black labor first built US wealth atop stolen Native land. Theres a more cynical calculation. In north Louisiana, the Gateses investment firm owns about 70,000 acres of land through at least three other shell companies. In Nebraska where he owns 20,000 acres, it is used for soybeans. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'askbamland_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_5',106,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-askbamland_com-large-leaderboard-2-0'); While farmland, and land in general, will undergo economic factors and changes to demand, it is very likely to increase in value as the years roll by. He never did anything that different from before he got here and what other farmers were doing nearby.". The acquisition, however . of the richest people in the country, owns less than one percent of the nations total farmland. John Malone is the largest private landowner in the United States. The Microsoft co-founder acquired 14,500 acres of the fertile land in 2018, helping to make him the largest private farmland owner in the US, with total holdings of almost 250,000 acres,. Is this simply a diversification of Gates' massive tech investment portfolio? But Gates, known for his philanthropic work solving some of the worlds most pressing public health and climate problems, has suggested that he does not treat his American farmland investments as part of his broader plans to save the planet. 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. That could spell an opportunity for young farmers hoping to get their start, but for savvy investors scrambling for more places to put their money, it also represents an opportunity. They said farmland has been a popular investment for a long time because of its stability. 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. MINOT, N.D. North Dakotans like to pride themselves on being pro-property rights. Land holds ample opportunities for growth and development, yet you may find that there is more land than there is competition. It can be sold as a property (or multiple properties), it can be used to produce things that people buy, or it can be rented out, like much of the farmland in the United States. Gates shares 95% of the ownership with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The land that Gates owns is located in several states and consists primarily of commercial farmland. Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, has been revealed as the biggest private owner of farmland in the US, after buying up 242,000 acres in 18 states. That kind of hard work isnt what made him rich. While he owns nearly half of the Four Season Holding's hotel chain through Cascade, he also has partial ownership of Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It just seemed like a good thing to do., 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, A map has revealed which billionaire owns the most land in the US, and it's not Bill Gates, John Malone owns about 2.2million acres of land across the United States, In comparison, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates owns about 270,000 acres of farmland, Malone is worth an estimated $9.22billion, Meet the largest landowner in the US as map reveals stunning amount of land billionaire owns and its not Bill Gates. The potential is endless. by Harvard Universitys Joint Center for Housing Studies. There is only a certain amount of land available on earth. Not only that, but it fits in with Gates values as a philanthropist because he can keep the farmland healthy for future generations. Like wealth, land ownership is becoming concentrated into fewer and fewer hands, resulting in a greater push for monocultures and more intensive industrial farming techniques to generate greater returns. ', Cascade did not elaborate on the agricultural land purchases other than to say that the company is 'very supportive of sustainable farming.'. Someone else is owning that asset, whether it's rented equipment or land. Gates is now America's largest private farmland owner, with hundreds of thousands of acres spanning across 19 U.S. states, according to the Land Report. He backed Impossible Foods, which relies on genetically modified soybeans, and also held shares of Beyond Meat through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, though SEC filings show those shares were sold in 2019. In Georgia and Florida, NBC News independently confirmed through research of property records that the Gateses investment firm owns more than 7,000 acres through two limited liability companies, Lakeland Sands and Lakeland Sands Florida, LLC. He now owns more farmland than my entire Native American nation. That is a big chunk of land. These shell companies have made it difficult to find out where and how much farmland the Gateses own even for local farmers, like John S. Quarterman, a farmer and landowner who grows okra, corn, squash and other vegetables in Lowndes County on the southern edge of Georgia. America's leading landowners added hundreds of thousands of acres to their holdings last year. Today, Bill Gates owns 242,000 acres of farmland in 19 states. This means that there is not much to maintain on it unless you want to add your own buildings or other property. My investment group chose to do this, Bill Gates said on Reddit in March when asked about his farmland purchases while promoting his latest book, How to Avoid A Climate Disaster. It is not connected to climate. He did acknowledge that more productive farming techniques can help reduce deforestation in other parts of the world. | Chuck Collins, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Land is power, land is wealth, and, more importantly, land is about race and class. Farmland in those parts is valuable, commanding prices between $10,000 and $15,000 per acre, far beyond the state average of about $2,000. The agriculture sector is important, he wrote. Our exposure to Invitation Homes is owning its stock in mutual funds we manage, not buying houses w/ them,. Bill and Melinda have diversified their portfolioworth more than $130 billionfor years, and one of their favorite investments is real estate. Gates-affiliated ownership covers vast swaths of farm and timberland, estimated to be 69,071 acres in all by niche land ownership publication The Land Repor t. Across the nation, Gates'. For Indigenous caretakers, land use isnt premised on a return of investments; its about maintaining the land for the next generation, meeting the needs of the present, and a respect for the diversity of life. The land that Bill Gates owns is used to grow soybeans, corn, cotton, and rice over 70,000 acres in northern Louisiana. In fact it is so big that it is a little hard to conceptualize. A few years ago, Bill Gates has announced plans to build a smart city outside of Buckeye in Arizona. The billionaire knows best mentality detracts from the deep-seated realities of colonialism and white supremacy, and it ignores those who actually know best how to use and live with the land. 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 [] The extensive tax avoidance by these titans of industry will always far exceed their supposed charitable donations to the public. Hes the landlord, or rather, the companies owned by his investment firm are the landlords. Bill Gates has invested in various high-profile commercial properties through his personal investment company, Cascade. In Washington, the Gateses own more than 14,000 acres of farmland that includes potato fields so massive that they are visible from space and some of which are processed into french fries for McDonalds. While land is a limited resource, there is still less competition for raw land than there is with residential and commercial real estate. False. from February that showed there were more than 895 million total acres of farmland in the country last year. A Grimmway Farms employee moves a water pipe at one of their carrot farms in the Antelope Valley near Lancaster, Calif., in 2004. The 1862 Homestead Act opened up 270m acres of Indigenous territory which amounts to 10% of US land for white settlement. the latest American Housing Survey by the Census Bureau. Cascade declined to comment on its specific land holdings. So what is this guy planning? Gates' achievement, according to the report, is that he's largest private owner of farmland in the US. This means that you can find good deals that may be just the thing you are looking for. From mortgage info and housing trends to updates on which celebritys bathroom is equipped with a Vitamin-C infused shower, Housecall covers the entire moving and shaking gamut of the industry decision to end their marriage after 27 years, How to Know Youve Found the Home of Your Dreams, 3 Reasons to Hire Pest Control Services After Moving Into Your Home, 4 Additions For Your New Bathroom Remodel, Top Kitchen Design Trends to Consider for Your Renovation, Inside Jeff Bezos Multi-Billion Dollar Real Estate Portfolio, Reasons to Take Care of a Water Leak in Your Home as Soon as Possible, A Quick Guide to Stopping Ceiling Leaks in Your Home, 10 Tips for Taking Care of Wood Furniture, 5 Important Facts About Your Rain Gutter System, 5 Strategies for Making Moving House as Smooth as Possible, Lessons Every Homeowner Can Learn This Winter to Prepare for the Next, How to Spot Foundation Issues in an Old Home. These states include: Arizona - 25,750 acres; Arkansas - 47,927 acres Although the price that the Gates paid for this property was never made public, theres a $300,000 initiation fee, and more than $37,000 in annual feesand you still have to purchase a home within the community. Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, has been revealed as the biggest private owner of farmland in the US, after buying up 242,000 acres in 18 states. Do whatever you want to with the land as the value increases. - Bill and Melinda Gates are taking on the new title of the biggest farmland owners in the United States, with a good chunk of that ownership being in Arkansas.
It may even be easier to sell smaller lots than it would be to market the entire portion of land that you invest in. Michelle, has two of its largest vineyards in that AVA: Canoe Ridge Vineyard and Columbia Crest Vineyard. Since it works as an investment for him, it also includes the benefits of using land as an investment like he does. The sale was notable because it added to Gates' farmland holdings which includes large tracts of land in Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, California, and about a dozen other states. 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. The opportunities are virtually endless. On Friday, a showdown between two of the largest agricultural landowners in the United Statesthe Church of Latter-Day Saints and Bill Gates ' wealth management firmcame . In 2014, Cascade Investments combined both of those companies and the land into Generations Farms, which continued to grow vegetables. He also reportedly owns about 16,000 acres in his home state of Washington, including a 14,500-acre tract in the Horse Heaven Hills region that was purchased for nearly $171 million. There are also growing trends revolving around the purchase of low acreage farmland and noncommercial farming. 4 The 13,573-square-foot home has six bedrooms, 11 bedrooms and more luxury features than you can count. This number stems from last year's edition of . The option expires Oct. 31, 2024. He is the author of the book Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance (Verso, 2019), In a pandemic, billionaires are richer than ever. According to the Land Report 100 Research Team, that figure is currently more than twice that amount, which means Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft, has an alter ego: Farmer Bill, the guy who owns more farmland than anyone else in America. If you said investment, then you are right. One answer might surprise you: While trying to track down who recently purchased 14,500 acres of choice farmland in Washington state's Columbia River Basin, researchers at The Land Report discovered the new owner was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Investors bought a record 18.4% of the homes purchased in the fourth quarter of 2021 three-quarters of which were single-family homes. That program ensures agriculture on the land is audited to meet standards, like soil health and water management, created by the nonprofit Leading Harvest, which counts one of the subsidiaries of Gates investment firm as a partner. 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. One of the Gates favorite vacation homes is in the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana. Public records suggest Cascade Investments has bought its farmland through a web of at least 22 limited liability shell companies across the country. The Microsoft co-founder is considered the largest private owner of farmland in the country with some 269,000 acres across dozens of states, according to last years edition of. Farmland can be an investment in several ways. Quarterman guessed that may be because Bill Gates isnt the one doing the farming. The trend worries young farmers who cannot compete with the likes of Bill Gates when buying land, according to Holly Rippon-Butler, a farmer in upstate New York and the land campaigns director at the National Young Farmers Coalition. Can you imagine having that much property? Bill Gates owns more land than all of the entire city of New Why Bill Gates Is Buying Up U.S. It also offers proven return rates. 07:04 GMT 16 Jan 2021. Bill and Melinda Gates also cracked the Land Report's Top 100 Landowners for the first time coming in at number 49. In total, Malone owns roughly 2.2million acres of land and has a net worth of around $9.22billion, earning him the nickname the Cable Cowboy.. Small farmers and Indigenous people are more cautious with the use of land. The land that Bill Gates owns is used to grow soybeans, corn, cotton, and rice over 70,000 acres in northern Louisiana. That land is now largely rented out to various farmers. The map shows a 242,000 acre square situated over New York. Bill and Melindas main residenceand by far their most impressive homeis a massive compound in Medina, Washington nicknamed 'Xanadu 2.0' in a reference to Citizen Kane. Investors generally are nevertheless buying an increasing share of the U.S. housing market. Bill Gates' 20,000 acres in Nebraska help make him the top farmland owner in the U.S. Christopher Burbach Jan 24, 2021 Updated May 17, 2022 0 1 of 10 This cropland west of Malmo, Nebraska, is. The Microsoft co-founder has reportedly purchased an $8.9 million Wyoming ranch that was once the stomping grounds of Buffalo Bill . He owns 242,000 acres, which is equivalent to the area of Fannin County GA. In other words, when the economy is struggling, the value of farmland generally doesnt depreciate. A 2014 Wall Street Journal profile of Larson, Cascade's chief investment officer, hinted at the beginning of that portfolio, after the piece noted that the firm owns 'at least 100,000 acres of farmland in California, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana and other states or an area seven times bigger than Manhattan.'. One of the Gates' favorite vacation homes is in the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana. You may have heard that Bill Gates owns a lot of land, but you may not know how much. The foundation aims to support country-led inclusive agricultural transformation across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, according to its website. A 2018 purchase of 14,500 acres of prime eastern Washington farmland which is traditional Yakama territory for $171m helped him get that title. In 2014, he co-founded The Red Nation, an Indigenous resistance organization. And while Bill Gates frets about eating cheeseburgers in his book for the amount of greenhouse gases the meat industry produces largely for the consumption of rich countries his massive carbon footprint has little to do with his personal diet and is not forgivable by simply buying more land to sequester more carbon. 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.