Who Is The Largest Landowner In The State Of Minnesota?

If you haven’t seen the movie “The Founder” you should search it out. It is a really good movie that tells the backstory of McDonald’s. In one scene, Ray Kroc, played by Michael Keaton, learns that land acquisition is the way to truly build an empire. (Watch that scene below)

National Restaurant News says, McDonald’s is one of the biggest real estate companies in the world. The fast-food chain owns $28.4 billion worth of land and buildings.” That’s a lot of land, but McDonald’s isn’t the largest land owner in Minnesota or even the United States.

In the beginning, McDonald's struggled mightily and it wasn’t until Ray Kroc met with Harry Sonneborn that the business took off.

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Sonneborn knew the real profit opportunity was owning the land and leasing it to franchisees.

Today, the restaurant chain does own approximately 47,00 acres of land in the United States.

Who Owns the Most Land in The United States?

When you have a lot of money, you have a lot of money to invest.

Bill Gates has a lot of money, and real-estate is almost always a great investment.

Bill Gates reportedly owns 270,000 acres of land. The co-founder of Microsoft is the largest private owner of farmland in the United States.

270,000 acres is a lot, but there’s one family that owns nearly 10 times that much land.

World Population Review says, "Approximately 60% of land in the United States is privately owned, and just a few individuals and families control a significant proportion of this land."

The Emmerson family founded Sierra Pacific Industries, a west coast logging company, and owns more than 2.3 million acres of land which makes them the number one landowner in the country.

Who Is The Biggest Landowner in Minnesota?

The Molpus Woodlands Group owns the most land in Minnesota with 286,000 acres.

Molpus is a timber supply, a forest management, and a real-estate company. Their site says they work “with individuals and organizations looking to add timberland to their investment portfolio.”