California Forever—California Forever secretly purchased $900M in Solano County farmland while misleading county officials about intentions
Between 2018 and 2023, California Forever's subsidiary Flannery Associates secretly purchased over 50,000 acres of farmland in Solano County for approximately $900 million, becoming the county's largest private landowner. From 2019 to 2023, the company told county officials it only intended to use the land for agricultural purposes including olive farming and long-term farmer leases. The true plan - building a new city of up to 400,000 people - was only revealed when the New York Times exposed the scheme in August 2023. The land's proximity to Travis Air Force Base triggered an Air Force Foreign Investment Risk Review investigation and FBI/CFIUS referrals from Congress.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Transparency | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Deceptive Lobbying | +toward | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.885 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
New York Times exposed California Forever's secret $900M farmland purchases in Solano County
On August 25, 2023, the New York Times revealed that Silicon Valley billionaires including Marc Andreessen, Reid Hoffman, and Laurene Powell Jobs had quietly purchased over 50,000 acres through shell company Flannery Associates while telling county officials the land was for agriculture.