Liberty Media CEO Now Fifth Largest US Landowner

The big move in this year’s top ten is Liberty Media CEO John Malone, whose purchase of the 290,000-acre Bell Ranch this August leapfrogged him ahead of the King Ranch Heirs and the Singleton Family to No. 5 at 1.2 million acres. Thanks to his conservation-minded land ownership, Malone has earned many friends (both two-legged and four-legged) over the years. In an interview on Bloomberg in July, Malone said that his friend Ted Turner was partly his inspiration. “It is sort of a lasting economic asset, and if you are charitably minded and you like conservation, you sort of can do well by doing good,” he said. “I own a lot of land. In fact, Ted and I are neighbors in New Mexico.”