Bill Gates is the fourth richest man in the world, with a fortune of 129 billion dollars, second only to Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Bernard Arnault. His investments range from technology to zero carbon energy. But curiously they also touch on another point: the purchase of land. He is the largest farmer in the United States.
The portal The Land Report revealed that Gates is the largest farm owner in his country, with almost 100,000 hectares to his credit across 18 states of the American Union. The estimated value of Gates’ private American farmland is 690 million dollars.
In the words of Erick O’Keefe of The Land Report: “Farmer Bill, the guy who owns more farmland than anyone in America.”
Its largest lots are located in Louisiana (28 thousand hectares), Arkansas (19 thousand hectares) and Nebraska (8 thousand hectares).
As explained by The Land Report, most of the land purchased by Bill Gates is arable, intended for agricultural uses.
And this is where the question arises, Is this dangerous or is it a necessary advance?
Bill Gates’s silence on his land investments
These kinds of investments by Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French, have been made over the last 25 years without much publicity. It is easier to hear about the magnate’s proposals on health and technology issues than in the purchase of agricultural land.
Many consider that the interest is to develop sustainable crops that survive climate change. But they also relate it to Gates’ philanthropy and the search for new food solutions.
In the past, the founder of Microsoft said: “If you are interested in the poorest, you should be interested in agriculture. And if you are interested in agriculture, you are also interested in cattle (…) In this context, that means helping farmers get as much as possible from their animals.”
An economic issue, and nothing else?
Although Gates has been the subject of dozens of conspiracy theories, the reasons for buying land are for financial investments and agricultural technology. At the moment, nothing more, according to the portal Land In Come.
“Owning farmland is one of the most prudent financial investments you can make right now,” emphasizes Land In Come. “Farmland as an investment offers low volatility. Additionally, corporations and the wealthy are investing in farmland to tackle climate change and supply products to a hungry world with changing tastes.”
Among the advances in which Gates is involved and that would serve his lands are seed science, biofuel development, aid to farmers in developing countries and supercultures.
So all that remains is to wait for the results. But meanwhile, the speculations continue. It’s Bill Gates and he will never walk away from these kinds of situations.