'Why Are You Buying Up So Much Farmland?' — Bill Gates Owns 275,000 Acres Across The U.S. But Says: 'There Isn't Some Grand Scheme Involved'

If you've ever joked that Bill Gates might be behind your fries, it turns out that punchline isn't too far off. While conspiracy theories swirl around burgers and billionaires, one thing's confirmed: Gates really does have a stake in America's food supply—by way of the dirt it grows from.

A 2025 Land Report named him the largest private farmland owner in the U.S., with 275,000 acres under his name—248,000 acres of it active farmland across at least 17 states. That makes him No. 1 in farmland and the 43rd largest landowner overall when factoring in non-agricultural holdings.

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Much of that land was acquired in just a few massive transactions. As first detailed in the 2021 Land Report, Gates made major purchases between 2017 and 2018, including a $520 million deal with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and a separate $171 million acquisition of the 100 Circles Acreage in Washington's Horse Heaven Hills. 

Together, those deals topped $690 million and formed the foundation of his national portfolio. Other notable acquisitions include 20,000 acres across 19 Nebraska counties for $113 million, 14,828 acres in Florida, 16,097 acres in Washington, and even a lone acre in New Mexico.

That same report broke down his largest state-by-state farmland holdings at the time:

• Louisiana – 69,071 acres
• Arkansas – 47,927 acres
• Nebraska – 20,588 acres

So when a Reddit user asked him during a 2023 Reddit Ask Me Anything:

"Why are you buying up so much farmland? Do you think this is a problem with billionaire wealth and how much you can disproportionately acquire?"

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Gates didn't hedge.

"I own less than 1/4000 of the farmland in the US," he responded. "I have invested in these farms to make them more productive and create more jobs. There isn't some grand scheme involved—in fact, all these decisions are made by a professional investment team."

His share may sound small, but with total farmland shrinking by roughly 2 million acres a year, Gates' footprint now equates to about 0.0283% of the national total. 

A report from Investigate Midwest revealed that Gates used more than 20 limited liability companies to acquire these properties. The same investigation also found that at least $700 million in loans were secured against the farmland—an estate planning strategy often used by ultra-wealthy individuals to access capital while deferring taxes.

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In an appearance on the "What Now? with Trevor Noah" podcast in November 2023, Gates echoed the same message when asked why someone known for building digital empires would buy so much physical land.

"Yeah, it's amazing how diversified the ownership is. I own about 1/4000 of the farmland," he said. "There's basically no big individual landowner—I own a lot, you know, it's maybe 10% of my assets. The decision to buy this land was made by people who help manage my money so that we get a good return, so that the foundation can buy more vaccines."

But for someone with a known love of McDonald's, it's probably not helping that he now owns enough farmland to grow the potatoes, the wheat—and maybe even raise the cattle.

Whether you see it as smart investing or eyebrow-raising consolidation, Gates' land portfolio continues to grow—one acre, one crop, one headline at a time.

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