Top Land Owners in America

[Weedygarden]

The Largest Private Landowners in the United States​

	Person/Family	Used For	Acres Owned	Locations	Notes
1	Emmerson Family	Timberland	2,330,000	California, Oregon, Washington	Red Emmerson's company Sierra Pacific Industries is the largest private lumber production firm in the United States. They own 14 different sawmills across the country.
2	John Malone	Conservation	2,200,000	Maine, New Hampshire, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming	The Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation is committed to conserving land for the communities that use it to live, work, and play.
3	Reed Family	Timberland	2,100,000	California, Oregon, Washington	Mark Edward Reed was hired in 1897 to manage the Simpson Logging Company. Reed married Sol Simpson's daughter in 1901. After Simpson died in 1906, Reed assumed control of Simpson Logging.
4	Ted Turner	Ranchland and agriculture	2,000,000	Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota	Each of the Turner ranches operates as a working business, supported by bison, hunting, fishing, and tourism.
5	Stan Kroenke	Ranchland and renewable energy	1,627,500	Texas, Montana	Kroenke owns the Los Angeles Rams (NFL), Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL), Colorado Rapids (MLS), and Arsenal F.C. (Premier League). Waggoner Ranch (the largest ranch in Texas) includes 30,000 acres of farmland, several creeks, more than 1,000 productive oil wells, hundreds of horses, and thousands of cattle.
6	Irving Family	Timberland and conservation	1,267,792	Maine	The family is the single largest landowner in Maine. They have also planted more than 1 billion trees in the U.S. and Canada.
7	Buck Family	Timberland	1,236,000	Maine	The family of Peter Buck (co-founder of Subway restaurants) owns timberland in Maine.
8	Brad Kelley	Ranchland	1,139,984	Texas, New Mexico	Kelley founded the Commonwealth Brands tobacco company in 1991, and approximately 10,000 elk roam his ranch properties.
9	Singleton Family	Ranchland	1,110,000	California, New Mexico	The Singleton Ranches are on more than a million acres in New Mexico and California. The ranches are home to one of the largest cattle operations in the world.
10	King Family	Ranchland and agriculture	911,215	Texas	The heirs of Robert King own King Ranch, which consists of ranches in Texas and California that earn income from ranching, hunting, farming, and oil operations.
11	Pingree Heirs	Timberland	830,000	Maine, New Hampshire	The Pingree family owns much of the Mount Washington property in New Hampshire as well as the Maine-based timberlands company Seven Islands Land Company.
12	Briscoe Family	Ranchland	686,000	Texas	Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe Jr. (1923-2010) was the largest landowner in Texas. The family's ranches continue to house thousands of cattle.
13	Wilks Brothers	Ranchland	675,000	Texas, Idaho, Montana	Dan and Farris Wilks made their money through fracking. They sold their shares of Frac Tech and started buying ranches.
14	Lykes Heirs	Ranchland and agriculture	615,000	Florida, Texas	The ranches in Texas are known for their cattle, while the land in Florida is renowned for its citrus groves.
15	Ford Family	Timberland	600,000	California, Oregon, South Carolina, Louisiana, Virginia	Roseburg Forest Products includes sawmills, engineered wood plants, plywood plants, woodchipping, and more.
16	O'Connor Heirs	Ranchland	587,800	Texas	The O'Connor Ranch is one of the longest-running cattle ranches in Texas history.
17	Thomas Peterffy	Timberland, ranchland, recreation, and real estate development	581,000	Florida, Georgia	A section of the properties includes acres dedicated to residential, commercial, and industrial development as well as recreational and agricultural land.
18	Stimson Family	Timberland	552,000	Idaho, Oregon, Montana	Stimson Lumber Company is one of America's oldest continuously operating wood products companies and has remained in the family for six generations.
19	Martin Family	Timberland	550,000	Louisiana	Roy O. Martin founded RoyOMartin in 1923, and to this day, the company owns three of the largest wood panel plants in North America.
20	Westervelt Heirs	Timberland	518,000	Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina	Herbert Westervelt founded Prairie States Paper Company and patented a machine that made flat-bottomed paper shopping bags.
21	Don Horton	Ranchland and real estate development	507,410	Nationwide	D.R. Horton has been the country's largest homebuilder by volume since 2002.
22	Simplot Family	Agriculture	443,091	Idaho	J.R. Simplot founder Jack Simplot created the first frozen French fries and later became the exclusive supplier of potatoes to McDonald's.
23	Fisher Family	Timberland	440,000	California	In addition to their tinder holdings, the Mendocino Redwood Company and Humboldt Redwood Company also work on protecting the habitat on their properties.
24	Jeff Bezos	Aerospace	420,000	Texas	Amazon founder Jeff Bezos purchased land in west Texas in order to launch rockets as part of his Blue Origin spaceflight program.
25	Zane and Tanya Kiehne	Ranchland	400,000	New Mexico, Texas	The Kiehnes are some of the largest landowners in southwest Texas and eastern New Mexico.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Dang it. I didn't make the list again.

 

[Weedygarden]

Dang it. I didn't make the list again.

I find it interesting to see how people got to where they are. Number 22, Jack Simplot, developed frozen French fries that now sells to McDonalds. How many McDonalds French fries have any of us purchased that helped him with his wealth and land purchases? I'm not much of a French fry person, but I do get why people are.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

It’s good to see that so much of it is timberland.

 

[Morgan101]

I hope they are all American. I'm almost surprised there were no Chinese on the list.

 

[Weedygarden]

I hope they are all American. I'm almost surprised there were no Chinese on the list.

We do hear about much land being bought up by Chinese, but maybe some are more in the top 100 land owners. I don't know about Chinese individual wealth now, after all the years of Communism. Yes, there were top people who were probably wealthier.

 

[Supervisor42]

Glad to see the King Ranch at #10. We bought santa-gertrudis bulls from them back in the day.
They bought so many pickup trucks, that Ford even sells a version for them:

 

[Weedygarden]

Glad to see the King Ranch at #10. We bought santa-gertrudis bulls from them back in the day.
They bought so many pickup trucks, that Ford even sells a version for them:

And then there is King Ranch Casserole!

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/king-ranch-chicken-casserole?print

King Ranch Chicken Casserole​

Whip up a little taste of Texas.
By Southern Living Editors

Updated on February 13, 2023
Prep Time: 35 mins
Cook Time: 35 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins

Ingredients​

• 1 chopped green bell pepper
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can diced tomato and green chiles
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 pinches garlic powder
• 2 pinches pepper
• 12 corn tortillas, torn into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese

Directions​

1. In a large skilled over medium-high heat, sauté bell pepper and onion 5 minutes or until tender.
   Stir in chicken and next 7 ingredients; remove from heat.
   
   
2. Layer one-third of torn tortillas in bottom of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
   Top with one-third of chicken mixture and 2/3 cup cheese. Repeat layers twice.
   Bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes.
   

Test Kitchen Tip​

Freeze casserole up to one month, if desired. Thaw in refrigerator overnight, and bake as directed.

 

[elkhound]

If i win that big lottery when it gets to 800 million or more...i will put 1mil in trust funds for each family member then the rest will be spent buying up lands in large chunks or adding large chunks as they come available and it will all be turned into public lands of various types for all to enjoy..like usfs additions,wildlife management areas,wilderness areas,forever wild conservation lands,etc. etc.

there was an old guy lived out montana and lived in small trailer and drove an old pick up truck.when he died the locals found out he was worth about 18million and he set it up upon his death that a large chunk of land was bought and it was turned into public wildlife unit for hunting and fishing etc.

 

[Dani]

I was surprised Bill Gates was not on the list.

 

[Neb]

Just guessing...

Maybe 22M acres in private hands and not govt. Good.

Ben