Special Report
This Is the Person Who Owns the Most Land in America
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Claims that Chinese entities were buying U.S. farmland at an alarming rate has led state and federal lawmakers from both ruling political parties to call for regulating and even stripping away foreign ownership of this land.
But a recent NBC News review of documents filed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that in the past year and a half (since the start of 2022), Chinese entities had purchased only 1,400 acres — about 2.2 square miles — in 35 states in a country with 1.3 billion acres of agricultural land. (Also see states with the most diverse landscapes.)
There was similar fear-mongering last year surrounding multi-billionaire Bill Gates. A rumor spread quickly on social media that the Microsoft cofounder was buying up the majority of American farmland, a claim that was quickly debunked.
As the Associated Press and other news organizations pointed out: Gates is indeed a major investor in farmland, but in 2021 he owned 269,000 acres, or about 0.03% of the nation’s total. Today, Gates is estimated to own a little more of this land — 275,000 acres, according to The Land Report magazine’s 2022 Land Report 100 reviewed by 24/7 Wall St.
The estimates used to determine the 50 biggest landowners are based on information from published reports, online databases, tax records, and information provided by various landowners. They include only rural land holdings, and to make the list, ownership must be deeded, not leased. Some of these landowners also lease significant tracts of pastureland from the federal government. (This is how much land the government owns in every state and what it’s used for.)
While Gates is among the largest single private owners of U.S. land used for farming, grazing, timber harvesting, wildlife conservation, or other purposes, he is nowhere near the top of the list. He is far outside of the top 10 biggest private U.S. landowners, a list that includes billionaire telecom mogul John Malone, the family of late Subway sandwich chain co-founder Peter Buck, and CNN founder Ted Turner.
Here are America’s biggest landowners.
Correction: A previous version of this article said Chinese entities had purchased only 1,400 acres – a little larger than the size of a football field. It should have read that 1,400 acres is the size of about 1,059 football fields, or 2.2 square miles. This error has been corrected.
50. D.K. Boyd
> U.S. land holdings: 261,937 acres
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49. Galt Family
> U.S. land holdings: 262,000 acres
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48. Taylor Sheridan
> U.S. land holdings: 266,255 acres
47. Benjy Griffith III
> U.S. land holdings: 269,000 acres
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46. True Family
> U.S. land holdings: 272,000 acres
45. Malone Mitchell 3rd
> U.S. land holdings: 273,000 acres
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44. Lee Family
> U.S. land holdings: 275,000 acres
43. Jones Family
> U.S. land holdings: 275,000 acres
42. Babbitt Heirs
> U.S. land holdings: 275,000 acres
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41. Bill Gates
> U.S. land holdings: 275,000 acres
40. Kokernot Heirs
> U.S. land holdings: 278,000 acres
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39. Cogdell Family
> U.S. land holdings: 282,000 acres
38. Llano Partners
> U.S. land holdings: 284,000 acres
37. Fasken Family
> U.S. land holdings: 284,493 acres
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36. Bass Family
> U.S. land holdings: 265,000 acres
35. Killam Family
> U.S. land holdings: 312,000 acres
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34. Barta Family
> U.S. land holdings: 315,000 acres
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33. Robinson & Freed
> U.S. land holdings: 350,000 acres
32. Mike Smith
> U.S. land holdings: 351,000 acres
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31. Collins Family
> U.S. land holdings: 370,000 acres
30. Cullen Heirs
> U.S. land holdings: 388,000 acres
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29. Hughes Family
> U.S. land holdings: 390,000 acres
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28. Holding Family
> U.S. land holdings: 395,000 acres
27. Shannon Kizer
> U.S. land holdings: 397,000 acres
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26. Stefan Soloviev
> U.S. land holdings: 408,000 acres
25. Zane & Tanya Kiehne
> U.S. land holdings: 414,000 acres
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24. Jeff Bezos
> U.S. land holdings: 420,000 acres
23. Fisher Family
> U.S. land holdings: 440,000 acres
22. Simplot Family
> U.S. land holdings: 443,000 acres
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21. Don Horton
> U.S. land holdings: 508,410 acres
20. Martin Family
> U.S. land holdings: 950,000 acres
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19. Stimson Family
> U.S. land holdings: 552,000 acres
18. Westervelt Heirs
> U.S. land holdings: 556,000 acres
17. Thomas Peterffy
> U.S. land holdings: 581,000 acres
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16. O’Connor Heirs
> U.S. land holdings: 587,800 acres
15. Ford Family
> U.S. land holdings: 600,000 acres
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14. Lykes Heirs
> U.S. land holdings: 615,000 acres
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13. Wilks Brothers
> U.S. land holdings: 675,000 acres
12. Briscoe Family
> U.S. land holdings: 738,000 acres
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11. Pingree Heirs
> U.S. land holdings: 830,000 acres
10. King Ranch Heirs
> U.S. land holdings: 911,215 acres
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9. Brad Kelley
> U.S. land holdings: 1,000,000 acres
8. Singleton Family
> U.S. land holdings: 1,100,000 acres
7. Buck Family
> U.S. land holdings: 1,236,000 acres
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6. Irving Family
> U.S. land holdings: 1,267,792 acres
5. Stan Kroenke
> U.S. land holdings: 1,627,500 acres
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4. Reed Family
> U.S. land holdings: 1,661,000 acres
3. Ted Turner
> U.S. land holdings: 2,000,000 acres
2. John Malone
> U.S. land holdings: 2,200,000 acres
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1. Emmerson Family
> U.S. land holdings: 2,411,000 acres
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