Tech billionaires boost their investments in land

By Abdulkadir Gunyol

ISTANBUL (AA) - Tech billionaires are increasing their investments in land, with Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos leading among other prominent figures.

Jeff Bezos, with 420,000 acres of land owned, ranks 25th on the US-based Land Report magazine’s 2024 Top 100 Landowner List.

Microsoft co-founder and former CEO Bill Gates is placed 41st as the largest private agricultural landowner in the US with 275,000 acres of land spanning across 17 states.

When asked why he was “buying up so much farmland” on the popular social media platform Reddit, Gates answered that he owns “less than 1/4,000 of the farmland in the US,” and that he has invested in these farms to make them more productive and create more jobs, according to a Land Report article dated January 2023.

“There isn’t some grand scheme involved,” he added.

As for the top five in the landowner list, the Emmerson family ranks first with 2.4 million acres.

The Emmerson family is known for operating in the energy and agriculture sectors. The size of the land they own is 1.8 times that of Istanbul’s.

American businessman John Malone came in second on the list with 2.2 million acres, followed by entrepreneur Ted Turner with 2 million acres, and businessman Stan Kroenke with 1.7 million acres.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim