Whenever you hear about the world’s fourth-richest person; Bill Gates, his name relates to some technology-based products, but now, there is another thing that’s connected with his name.
After the recent reveal of The Land Report, it is confirmed that Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates own 242,000 acres of farmland across 19 states, and thus, the name of Bill Gates is attached with another whooping title: America’s farmland King.
All the acquisitions are directly managed by Gates’ personal investment entity, Cascade Investments. Michael Larson, cascades business manager is responsible for the emerging desire for profit from the farmland while truly emphasizing the sustainability of nature.
The Portfolio of Gates
Source: The Land Report
The biggest holdings of Gates farmland include 69,071 acres in Louisiana, 47,927 acres in Arkansas, 25,750 acres in Arizona, 20,588 acres in Nebraska, and 16,097 acres in Washington state.
Farmland values of all these locations vary between $10,000 to $15,000 per acre which is far beyond the state average of about 2,000 acres. On average, Gates purchased all the land for 12,000 per acre.
Additionally, Gates has chunks of 25,750 acres of transitional land on the west side of Arizona, Phoenix, which is turned into a new suburb.
Still, Gates doesn’t rank in the top 100 overall private landowners in the U.S if we account for the land of all types rather than just agricultural.
It’s uncertain why Gates has an enormous interest in farmland but according to its website “the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation aims to support country-led inclusive agricultural transformation across South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa”
But buying farmland in such a huge quantity may be connected to collect a solid profit. As in this case, farmland offers higher total returns as compared to many other real estate investments.
Because farmland exhibit a much lower risk of losing fund, it’s quite a sensibleness to invest in high volume and expect a vigorous profit in future.
Other than Gates, big names are glimpsed out of The Land Report who are investing aggressively in real estate land. Wonderful Company cofounders Stewart and Lynda Resnick (net worth: $7.1 billion) are at third place with 190,000 acres of farmland throughout the US. Even Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon is investing in land with a significant amount. Bezos is ranked at the 25th spot in the list of 100 top American landowners, with ownership of 420,000 acres, mainly in west Texas.
Farmland is Good for Individual Investors
Investing in farmland is a great fortune. Business magnates like Bill Gates are investing in it even though they have a lot of other investment opportunities and a broad sight to different businesses. They know how to innovate and evolve their business to maintain its prosperity and thus one of their intentions is to invest efficiently in farmland.
If you are also looking to make a land investment, you don’t have to be rich like Bill Gates to invest, although all it needs is working with proficient real estate agents who can provide lucrative deals at affordable prices.
