If you think you can make a fortune in digital or tech, Bill Gates has already changed course: he’s piling up farmland in the United States.
It’s been a long time since Bill Gates retired from Microsoft to focus on his philanthropic activities. And these work well for him. Although no longer at Microsoft, the man who made wealth in tech continues to hit the headlines, but far from the metaverse and Web 3.0 who occupy this area. Bill Gates has just made a major land acquisition in the United States.
Bill Gates now owns the equivalent of 10 times the area of the city of Paris.
Bill Gates becomes the largest individual landowner in the United States
During his years at Microsoft, the 66-year-old managed to become the richest man in the United States and in the world. But all that is far behind him now. Away from these tech pursuits, Gates has found something else to occupy his time: land acquisition.
Lands, the founder of Microsoft now has plenty. A few days ago, in fact, the State of Dakota validated to Bill Gates a plan for the purchase of 850 hectares of agricultural land. A success for the native of Seattle who sees his capital increase. The 850 hectares are in addition to the more than 100,000 hectares he already owned. It is now counted approximately 1100 km² of agricultural land. What he intends to make profitable, since he will rent them to farmers.
With this recent purchase, Bill Gates now owns the equivalent of 10 times the area of the city of Paris. Which may still change, since in Dakota only individual land owners can buy land.
Land Acquisition: Wealth and Power
At a time when Meta is busy for the metaverse and the other rich men are rushing to cryptocurrency, Bill Gates continues to buy farmland on a large scale. One might well ask why?
The wealth ! American farmland is one of sources of wealth the most valuable because of their stable and relatively high price. There has been an increase in farmland purchases so far and it is expected to increase exponentially. This trend is already gaining momentum with the rate of population growth current and changing demographics in the United States.
The main drivers of this acquisition are the increased demand for food production. What has been accentuated with the war in Ukraine and the policy of local production implemented by many states. Investing in agricultural land would therefore be very profitable. And the entry into play of warren buffett only confirms it. The man who made his fortune with Apple plans to invest up to 25 billion dollars to own 1% of American land.
In addition, land acquisition represents the power. Owning such a large amount of land would allow these men to have some control over production. Their decision could thus weigh heavily in the balance, as far as food is concerned. To this end, the land acquired recently by Bill Gates was acquired with Campbell Farms. The latter currently operates the regions where potatoes are produced.
