Bill Gates—Became America's largest private farmland owner with 275,000 acres across 17 states
Through his investment firm Cascade Investment, Bill Gates accumulated approximately 275,000 acres of farmland across 17 states since 2013, becoming the nation's largest private farmland owner. Major acquisitions include assets from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (2017) and 100 Circles acreage in Washington state (2018), totaling over $690 million in those two deals alone. Gates said the investments aim to make farms more productive, but the scale of holdings has drawn criticism about wealth concentration in agricultural land.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental Sustainability | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | +0.322 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.64)
Evidence (2 signals)
Land Report confirmed Gates as largest private farmland owner with 275,000 acres across 17 states
The 2025 Land Report confirmed Bill Gates holds approximately 275,000 acres of farmland across 17 states, ranking 43rd among America's largest private landowners. Major acquisitions include assets from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (2017) and 100 Circles acreage in Washington state (2018), totaling over $690 million.
Gates explained farmland purchases as productivity investments on Reddit AMA
During a Reddit 'Ask Me Anything' session, Gates addressed farmland criticism: 'I own less than 1/4000 of the farmland in the US. I have invested in these farms to make them more productive and create more jobs. There isn't some grand scheme involved.'