Bill Gates is now runaway leader as the largest private owner of farmland in the United States. According to an article published by The Land Report, the Microsoft co-founder, whose net worth now stands at $129 billion, has acquired the acreage through Cascade Investment, the investment vehicle and family office run by Michael Larson.
To date, Gates has acquired 242,000 acres of farmland, followed by the Offutt family (190,000 acres), Stewart and Lynda Resnick (190,000), the Fanjul family (160,000 acres), and the Boswell family (150,000 acres).
Among other factors, Gates’ move into agriculture, which began years ago, appears to be a continuing effort to diversify a portfolio heavy in traditional digital technologies by adding agtech plays such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, plant-based vegan meat production companies. The Land Repo