The Top 20 Landowners In America According To A New Report

20.01.2024 - 20:33 / forbes.com / Bill Gates / Jeff Bezos

Endless miles of vast land stretch as far as the eye can see, but only a few families own much of it. Almost half of all American farmland is owned by people who don't actually farm themselves. Many of these wealthy families make their fortunes in the lumber and forest industry, with millions of acres in timberland throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The largest landowners run cattle operations and farms throughout the Great Plains and the West. Some ranches include land leased from the state or government for cattle grazing, while others offer oil and gas revenue. Traditionally, family members hold onto their property through generations, which is why the top 100 landowners control a great majority of the country's ranches.

Every year, the industry stalwart The Land Report releases its Top 100 list of America's leading landowners. This year's list features America's largest landowner, Red Emmerson. Along with his family (sons George and Mark), he owns 2,411,000 acres in California, Oregon, and Washington with the leading timber-products company, Sierra Pacific Industries.

Once the Emmerson’s acquired Oregon timberland in 2021, they moved ahead of cable magnate John Malone’s 2,200,000 acres. CNN founder Ted Turner is currently America’s third largest landowner, with 2 million acres in the Southeast, on the Great Plains, and across the West.

Younger land investors are jumping in this year with a new crop under 50 years old. “Major moves by independent investors stood out in this year’s Land Report 100,” says Eric O’Keefe, Editor of the Land Report. “Tianqiao Chen (50) joined the Land Report 100 at No. 82 with 198,000 acres. Shannon Kizer (28) added 34,000 acres to move up to No. 24, and Stefan Soloviev (48) increased his holdings to 535,000 acres when he bought the LE Ranch. That puts him at No. 21 on the list.”

The selection of the Top 100 is a lengthy process with a research team analyzing transactions and records to determine America’s leading landowners. That’s how they broke the news in 2020: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was America’s largest farmland owner, with more than 260,000 acres. This year, they also identified Chinese gaming billionaire Tianqiao Chen owning almost 200,000 acres of Oregon timberland.

Among the most recognizable landowners from the Top 100 list are Jeff Bezos (420,000), Bill Gates (275,000), and Taylor Sheridan (265,000). For the complete list, visit The Land Report. Here are the Top 20 from the exhaustive list of landowners in the U.S.

With massive landholdings in California, Oregon, and Washington, the Emmerson family owns and sustainably manages more than 2.4 million acres of timberland. Through their forest-products company, Sierra Pacific Industries, they are among