Here it is … the 2014 Land Report 100.
Among the major movers on this year’s list is nationally known homebuilder D.R. Horton, founder and chairman of DR Horton Inc. (DHI), who acquired New Mexico’s 457-square-mile Great Western Ranch. This transaction landed Horton at No. 32 on the 2014 list. Horton purchased the 292,779-acre Great Western from Denver investor Patrick Broe. But don’t worry about Broe. Thanks to holdings in Colorado and Wyoming, he stayed on the list at No. 76.
And that wasn’t even the biggest sale. The Reed family, owners of Green Diamond Resource Company, acquired 600,000 acres of Oregon timberland from the estate of Richard Wendt, founder of JELD-WEN Windows & Doors. The purchase upped the Reeds from No. 10 in 2013 to No. 5 in 2014. This swath of rural Oregon is almost the same size as Rhode Island and is the largest land transaction in the U.S. since Liberty Media Chairman John Malone acquired more than 1 million acres of timberland in Maine and New Hampshire in 2011. That buy put Malone atop The Land Report 100, where he remains in 2014 with 2.2 million acres. His good friend and fellow cable entrepreneur Ted Turner is No. 2 with more than 2 million acres. Rounding out the top five are California’s Emmerson family with 1.86 million acres, Kentucky billionaire Brad Kelley with 1.5 million acres, and the Seattle-based Reeds with 1.37 million acres.
In all, private holdings increased by nearly 500,000 acres since the 2013 Land Report 100 was completed.
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The Land Report Winter 2014
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The Land Report Fall 2013
With 2.2 million acres, John Malone takes top honors for the third consecutive year. His love of land, coupled with his wife’s love of horses, led to several key acquisitions, including a historic Irish castle just south of Dublin and two properties in Wellington, the epicenter of Florida’s equestrian community.
At more than 2 million acres, Ted Turner runs a close second to his good friend. Turner enjoys the distinction of being New Mexico’s largest landowner, and he capitalized on that honor by acquiring the historic Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa in Truth or Consequences. Guests at the Lodge will be able to enjoy tours of Turner’s 156,439-acre Ladder Ranch and his 362,885-acre Armendaris Ranch.
Thanks to his acquisition of the Broken O Ranch, Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke moved up from No. 10 on last year’s list to No. 8 in the rankings. Among the newcomers to this year’s list are Texas’s Wilks Brothers, founders of Frac Tech. Their prized jewel is Montana’s 60,000-acre N Bar Ranch, which they acquired from former Land Report 100er Tom Siebel, founder of Siebel Systems. Another new name on the list is Arthur Nicholas, who serves on the board of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Nicholas is the owner of Wyoming’s historic Wagonhound Land and Livestock Co., which is the subject of a new book by Land Reporters Wyman Meinzer and Henry Chappell.
We invite you to be among the first to view the complete rundown of America’s top landowners, which is available exclusively on the Fay Ranches website. Click here to download your PDF today.
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