An IMGlobalWealth.com News Report
While technology billionaires often dominate the global wealth narrative, one of the most enduring strategic assets remains land. In the United States, where roughly 2.26 billion acres exist and about 60% is privately owned, vast territories remain concentrated in the hands of a small group of investors, ranchers and timber dynasties.
According to the latest Land Report 100*, which tracks the largest private landowners in America, Stan Kroenke has emerged as the country’s largest private landholder, controlling around 2.7 million acres of land.
“For the modern billionaire, land ownership is therefore not merely a symbol of status. It is a strategic asset, one that combines economic value, environmental resources and generational legacy”
Kroenke’s rise to the top
Kroenke’s ascent followed a landmark transaction in 2025 when he acquired more than 937,000 acres of ranchland in New Mexico from the heirs of industrialist Henry Singleton. The deal, one of the largest private land sales in the United States in more than a decade, propelled the billionaire sports and property investor to the top of the national ranking.
Kroenke’s portfolio includes some of the most iconic ranches in the American West, most notably the 535,000-acre Waggoner Ranch in Texas, widely regarded as one of the largest ranches under a single fence in North America.
Best known internationally for owning major sports franchises, including Arsenal FC, the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche, Kroenke has quietly built one of the largest private land portfolios in the world.
Largest Private Landowners in the United States (2026)
(Data compiled from The Land Report 100 and industry reports)
| Rank | Landowner | Estimated Landholdings |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stan Kroenke | ~2.7 million acres |
| 2 | Emmerson Family | ~2.44 million acres |
| 3 | John Malone | ~2.2 million acres |
| 4 | Ted Turner | ~2.0 million acres |
| 5 | Reed Family | ~1.615 million acres |
| 6 | Buck Family | ~1.32 million acres |
| 7 | Brad Kelley | ~1.2 million acres |
| 8 | Irving Family | ~1.2 million acres |
| 9 | Singleton Family | ~1.1 million acres |
| 10 | King Ranch Heirs | ~911,000 acres |
Source: The Land Report 100
Different fortunes, one asset
What is striking about the ranking is that many of these landowners built their wealth in entirely different industries.
John Malone, a cable television pioneer and chairman of Liberty Media, accumulated vast ranchlands across several western states. Ted Turner, founder of CNN, controls about two million acres, much of which has been converted into wildlife conservation areas and bison ranches.
Timber remains another major driver of large landholdings. The Emmerson family, whose company Sierra Pacific Industries is one of the largest lumber producers in the United States, owns millions of acres of forest across California, Oregon and Washington.
These estates generate income not only from agriculture and ranching, but also from forestry, conservation programmes and natural resources.
Chart: America’s Largest Landowners by Acreage
Stan Kroenke ██████████████████████████████ 2.7M acres
Emmerson Family ███████████████████████████ 2.44M
John Malone ████████████████████████ 2.2M
Ted Turner ██████████████████████ 2.0M
Reed Family █████████████████ 1.6M
Buck Family ████████████ 1.3M
Brad Kelley ███████████ 1.2M
Irving Family ███████████ 1.2M
Singleton Family ██████████ 1.1M
King Ranch Heirs █████████ 0.9M
Bill Gates and the farmland distinction
The conversation around large landowners often includes Bill Gates, although his holdings fall into a different category.
Gates is widely recognised as the largest private farmland owner in the United States, controlling approximately 270,000 acres of agricultural land across several states.
However, this is significantly smaller than the total landholdings of the country’s largest ranch and timber owners.
| Owner | Land Type | Estimated Acreage |
|---|---|---|
| Stan Kroenke | Ranchland / mixed | ~2.7 million acres |
| Ted Turner | Ranchland / conservation | ~2.0 million acres |
| John Malone | Ranchland | ~2.2 million acres |
| Bill Gates | Farmland | ~270,000 acres |
The distinction illustrates how different land classes, farmland, timberland and ranchland, play different roles in investment portfolios.
Why billionaires are buying land
For wealthy investors and family offices, land offers several advantages rarely matched by financial assets:
- Inflation protection
- Long-term capital preservation
- Income generation through agriculture, forestry and leasing
- Finite supply
In an era of volatile markets, these characteristics have turned farmland and ranchland into increasingly attractive components of diversified wealth strategies.
The United States, with its vast open spaces and historically permissive property laws, remains uniquely suited to large-scale land accumulation.
For the modern billionaire, land ownership is therefore not merely a symbol of status. It is a strategic asset, one that combines economic value, environmental resources and generational legacy.
*The Land Report 100, produced by The Land Report, is the most widely cited annual survey of the largest private landowners in the United States. Based on extensive analysis of public records, property filings and industry data, the report is considered the benchmark reference for tracking large-scale land ownership in the country.
