Bill Gates Becomes Biggest Private Owner of Farmland in America

[Grouse]

The tech billionaire quietly has been growing his holdings for years.

Bill Gates, the eccentric Microsoft co-founder who has no college degree but a lot of money — and interest in current events — is now the country’s largest private owner of farmland, and nobody seems to know why.

 

https://www.westernjournal.com/years-secretly-buying-land-bill-gates-becomes-biggest-private-owner-farmland-america/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=westernjournalism&utm_content=2021-01-17&utm_campaign=topdaily&fbclid=IwAR0NN3QGLu0NjxLyS_crTd62f83BgU1Gl3l-rf5P7lw-p1WlYVOgk0qqEQI

[phantom]

27 minutes ago, Grouse said:

The tech billionaire quietly has been growing his holdings for years.

Bill Gates, the eccentric Microsoft co-founder who has no college degree but a lot of money — and interest in current events — is now the country’s largest private owner of farmland, and nobody seems to know why.

 

https://www.westernjournal.com/years-secretly-buying-land-bill-gates-becomes-biggest-private-owner-farmland-america/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=westernjournalism&utm_content=2021-01-17&utm_campaign=topdaily&fbclid=IwAR0NN3QGLu0NjxLyS_crTd62f83BgU1Gl3l-rf5P7lw-p1WlYVOgk0qqEQI

Maybe he doesn't trust the stock markets  with all his money  . The guy is worried about over population so he is betting people will need more land and food in the future . There is only so much land in the world 

Edited January 18, 2021 by phantom

[crappyice]

Rare resource and they ain’t making more of it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[phade]

Diversification doesn't stop when you're one of the richest people in the world. Land ownership is a common diversification avenue. It just scales different for him because of how much $ he has.

[Nomad]

There’s 350 million acres of farmland in the US, Gates owns 242,000 less then a drop in the bucket  . The King Ranch in Texas is 850,000 acres ( that’s bigger then Rhode Island )  . In fact there’s ten ranches just in Texas larger then Bill Gates holdings .

https://www.wideopencountry.com/10-biggest-texas-ranches/

 

[Nomad]

1 minute ago, phade said:

Diversification doesn't stop when you're one of the richest people in the world. Land ownership is a common diversification avenue. It just scales different for him because of how much $ he has.

Yep and our landholdings make up a bigger percentage of our wealth then his holdings do, of his .

[Nytracker]

Who would benefit the most owning that much private farmland? If he were to sell it ... who would buy it ..just think .

[Jeremy K]

I'm working on getting permission to hunt a piece he owns . Im still waiting for him to return my call.  

[mlammerhirt]

Sit patiently by your landline.....he doesn't like using cell phones.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

[squirrelwhisperer]

He is waiting for "president" Blunder to require all vehicles be run on electric or corn based fuel

[airedale]

Old Bill is taking heed of Thomas Mitchell's quote in the movie Gone With The Wind.

Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.”

Al

[Grouse]

Gates isn't buying just any land.  He's buying prime farmland.

The King Ranch isn't farmland, and Gates is not finished buying prime farmland.

Like the article says, he is now the country’s largest private owner of farmland.

I think it wise for America to question the motive.

[Nomad]

4 hours ago, Grouse said:

Gates isn't buying just any land.  He's buying prime farmland.

The King Ranch isn't farmland, and Gates is not finished buying prime farmland.

Like the article says, he is now the country’s largest private owner of farmland.

I think it wise for America to question the motive.

I understand what the King ranch is , just a size comparison of landowners ,  Gates doesn’t own much farmland overall . If my math is right he owns 1/1400th of US farmland . If he wants more I’m willing to sit down and discuss it with him .
 

Currently Ted Turner owns 2 million acres of land in the US , rich guys buying land seems to be a thing .

 

Here’s some other large farms .

https://www.agriculture.com/farm-management/farm-land/top-5-farms-with-the-largest-acreage-in-the-us

[Grouse]

No denying there are large private land owners in the US, but the farms are mostly owned by people who actually farm and rich landowners generally don't own their land in secret and are upfront about why they bought it.  Turner buys land in places where the demand for it is going up, so it's just an investment that has less risk and greater reward than the stock market at this time.

Gates is a mystery when it comes to his land owning.  Considering how he can insert himself into any arena he wants and control it at will, it's in our best interest, and maybe even in the interest of national security, to question why he's suddenly so interested in buying prime farmland at the rate he's buying it.  He's not working this prime farmland. Seems like he's looking to corner the market on it at the rate he's going.  Why?

[phade]

1 hour ago, Grouse said:

No denying there are large private land owners in the US, but the farms are mostly owned by people who actually farm and rich landowners generally don't own their land in secret and are upfront about why they bought it.  Turner buys land in places where the demand for it is going up, so it's just an investment that has less risk and greater reward than the stock market at this time.

Gates is a mystery when it comes to his land owning.  Considering how he can insert himself into any arena he wants and control it at will, it's in our best interest, and maybe even in the interest of national security, to question why he's suddenly so interested in buying prime farmland at the rate he's buying it.  He's not working this prime farmland. Seems like he's looking to corner the market on it at the rate he's going.  Why?

If this were a right leaning rich person, would you still be saying these things?

He is not my cup of tea, but I respect his right to do what with he has earned within the provisions of the law. He doesn't owe me, you, or anyone an explanation unless the law requires disclosure.

[Grouse]

1 hour ago, phade said:

If this were a right leaning rich person, would you still be saying these things?

Yes I would.  Especially if it were a man who has been known to do things that were not in the best interest of the country.

BTW, this is not the political forum.

[phade]

18 minutes ago, Grouse said:

Yes I would.  Especially if it were a man who has been known to do things that were not in the best interest of the country.

BTW, this is not the political forum.

LOL, if the people deemed that he explain why is needed - there would be disclosure requirements.

Not much different than minding your own business worrying about what someone else is doing on private property when said owner has indicated/exhibited no illicit activities. He bought land. End of story.

[DoubleDose]

Perhaps he has discovered the joys of whitetail deer hunting.  This strategy gives him multiple states and seasons, where he will be able to hunt all year round, and with nuisance permits, no bag limits. Plus the bonus of managing for world class trophy antlers. 

Edited January 19, 2021 by DoubleDose
typo

[Splitear]

3 hours ago, Grouse said:

No denying there are large private land owners in the US, but the farms are mostly owned by people who actually farm and rich landowners generally don't own their land in secret and are upfront about why they bought it.  Turner buys land in places where the demand for it is going up, so it's just an investment that has less risk and greater reward than the stock market at this time.

Gates is a mystery when it comes to his land owning.  Considering how he can insert himself into any arena he wants and control it at will, it's in our best interest, and maybe even in the interest of national security, to question why he's suddenly so interested in buying prime farmland at the rate he's buying it.  He's not working this prime farmland. Seems like he's looking to corner the market on it at the rate he's going.  Why?

Having the government get involved in a citizen's right to personal property. This is exactly what I would expect to hear from a socialist/leninist/marxist/leftist. 

Sorry, I couldn't help myself

[Grouse]

12 minutes ago, Splitear said:

Having the government get involved in a citizen's right to personal property. This is exactly what I would expect to hear from a socialist/leninist/marxist/leftist. 

Sorry, I couldn't help myself

I would expect that response from a big government fan that's presumptuous.  I was think of investigative journalists.  You know, the 4th estate?

Oh, I forgot.  They no longer exist.

If Trump were doing it, we would never hear the end of it until a law put him in jail for it.

Edited January 19, 2021 by Grouse

[knehrke]

I'm placing bets on solar farms. They are popping up everywhere. Interestingly, one of our local farmers has just had a solar farm approved to be constructed on his property. There is big money to be made.

[dbHunterNY]

anyone with a brain knows why he is. you can develop more and different PC tech but can't make more land. if you can afford to keep land and are smart about enrolling it in different programs, then it only makes sense to continue buying it. we're pretty small at just shy 350 acres. our rural townships has zoning laws that prevent you buying up land and then splitting it into many lots to make a subdivision for development. even so we've added more because of opportunity and it was cheap.  there's another down the road that owns 1,400+ acres worth of farms, that has it in a conservation trust that's largely tax free. here in NY you have to be smart about it though because taxes are high even with an active farm using it to allow for an ag exemption.

[dbHunterNY]

3 minutes ago, knehrke said:

I'm placing bets on solar farms. They are popping up everywhere. Interestingly, one of our local farmers has just had a solar farm approved to be constructed on his property. There is big money to be made.

there's a big hitch with that. even though our NY Governor and the incoming POTUS have pushed alternative energy like solar the regional utility infrastructure here in NY can't always handle it. Trust me.  You can buy around XX acres of flat south facing land, commercially zoned, dirt cheap at a tax auction.  Spend time and money to install tile drainage, clear a more of it, turn it into ag fields. Then have a solar corp go thru planning, design, and town board approval.  Have power pre-purchase agreement with a state college and lets say GE. When you think you're home free National Grid elec utility says "yea we took another look and our lines in that location won't support that much power. ...but good news is if you foot a multi-million dollar bill for upgrades to our infrastructure then we're all set."  So now your whole project to turn a profit that's about 128x your investment over the course of 30 years is dead in the water.  i know of a few other people that have been sitting on these projects for several years too.  good news is you can always turn around these properties to someone who's willing to wait for a premium.

[Robhuntandfish]

https://www.gatesnotes.com/Development/Why-I-love-fertilizer

[BowmanMike]

4 hours ago, Grouse said:

No denying there are large private land owners in the US, but the farms are mostly owned by people who actually farm and rich landowners generally don't own their land in secret and are upfront about why they bought it.  Turner buys land in places where the demand for it is going up, so it's just an investment that has less risk and greater reward than the stock market at this time.

Gates is a mystery when it comes to his land owning.  Considering how he can insert himself into any arena he wants and control it at will, it's in our best interest, and maybe even in the interest of national security, to question why he's suddenly so interested in buying prime farmland at the rate he's buying it.  He's not working this prime farmland. Seems like he's looking to corner the market on it at the rate he's going.  Why?

Are you saying the government should regulate who can buy what land? That sounds like totalitarianism,and that coming from you of all people,tsk tsk.