[ad_1]
The main Fox Business Flash titles are here. Find out what clicks on FoxBusiness.com.
According to Land Report, Microsoft founder Bill Gates now owns the most farmland in the United States.
Land Report researchers concluded that Gates, now the world’s fourth richest man, and his wife, Melinda, owned 242,000 acres of farmland.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS
They own about 52,000 more acreage than the Offutt family, which ranks second on Land Report’s list of families with the most farmland in the United States.
In total, Bill and Melinda Gates have acquired land in more than a dozen states. However, its largest land holdings are in Louisiana (69,071 acres), Arkansas (47,927 acres), Nebraska (20,588 acres), Arizona (25,750 acres) and Washington State (16,097). .
Bill Gates speaks at the 2019 New Economy Forum at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE) on November 21, 2019, (Hou Yu / China News Service / VCG via Getty Images)
According to Land Report research, Gates and his wife hired former Putnam Investments bond fund manager Michael Larson in 1994 to help them diversify their personal assets.
These investments included a stake in AutoNation, the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Four Seasons in San Francisco and more than 100,000 acres of farmland in various states, the Land Report said, citing a 2014 profile of Larson on the Wall Street. Newspaper.
However, the latest Land Report findings show that the 100,000 figure has since risen to more than double that amount.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE ROAD BY CLICKING HERE
Although Gates is widely known as the man behind tech giant Microsoft, he’s no stranger to farming.
Since the early 2000s, Gates and his wife have made a foray into agriculture with numerous investments to support farmers in developing countries.
In 2008, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced $ 306 million in grants intended to increase the yields and incomes of millions of small farmers in Africa as well as in “other parts of the developing world so that they can survive. lift themselves and their families out of hunger and poverty. “
The foundation has also partnered with the Department for International Development (DFID) to support agricultural research projects in developing countries to help small farmers increase their yields and income.
About a year ago, Gates established the non-profit organization Gates Ag One to pursue its goals of supporting agriculture in developing countries.
[ad_2]
Source link