Real estate has been a lucrative market since the country’s inception. Some of today’s biggest landowners can trace their roots back to the earliest days of the nation. Others have joined this one-of-a-kind landowning club more recently. These individuals stand out as the biggest landowners in the country today:
1. John Malone: Malone is the chairman of Liberty Media. He also owns extensive ranch lands that total more than 2.2 million acres in Wyoming, New Mexico, and Colorado, as well as forested lands in Maine.
2. Ted Turner: Jack-of-all-trades Turner recently acquired a 3500-head buffalo herd, now housed on his expansive ranch in South Dakota. He also owns a combined 2 million acres in Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Nebraska, and Montana.
3. Emmerson Family: The Emmerson family began its real estate buying in 1949. The family holds 1.9 million acres of land in Washington and California and owns Sierra Pacific Industries.
4. Brad Kelley: Kelley owns 1.5 million acres of land located in Kentucky. He once owned a tobacco company, but more recently runs his own companies called Calumet Farms and NC2.
5. Reed Family: The Reed family in Washington owns 1.37 million acres of land in that state. They run the Simpson Investment Company, as well as the Green Diamond Resource Company. Less than two percent of the family’s commercially-owned lands are harvested each year.
These individuals and families stand out as the largest landowners in the country. Their land acquisitions allow them to operate companies and conserve natural landscapes.