--- title: "Residents Furious When Bill Gates Swoops in to Buy Huge Amounts of Farmland" description: "Farmer Bill AP reports that last week, billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates was cleared to purchase 2,100 acres of rural North Dakota farmland. The acquisition, however, was not without drama — the tech mogul had to fight state law in order to buy it, and a number of locals are less than thrilled with the […]" date: "2022-07-07" modified: "2022-07-07" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/residents-furious-bill-gates-farmland" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "Bill Gates" - "investing" - "property" - "the digest" --- # Residents Furious When Bill Gates Swoops in to Buy Huge Amounts of Farmland ![]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Farmer Bill *The Associated Press* [reports that]() last week, billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates was cleared to purchase 2,100 acres of rural North Dakota farmland. The acquisition, however, wasn't without drama — the tech mogul had to fight state law to buy it, and a number of locals are less than thrilled with the outcome. "I've gotten a big earful on this from clear across the state, it's not even from that neighborhood," said North Dakota’s Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring when [speaking to]() local television station KFYR-TV last month. "Those people are upset, but there are others that are just livid about this." ## Land Laws The North Dakota [law in question](), enacted during the Depression to protect struggling family farms, bars corporations and some other businesses from owning farmland. Individual trusts, however, are allowed to buy agriculture land if they lease it back to farmers, which according to the *AP* is what Gates' firm plans to do. Thus, the controversial philanthropist was able to secure the property. ## New MacDonald Gates has quietly been acquiring farmland for several years now, in a genuinely bizarre twist for his long tech career. The billionaire is already America's top private farmland owner, currently controlling about 270,000 acres of agricultural real estate. It's an interesting shift — ultra-wealthy tech innovator to agricultural overlord — but Gates isn't the only well-known billionaire putting their faith in the resource. Nebraska-[enthusiast]() (and [longtime Gates pal]()) Warren Buffet is a fan of the investment, and [recently remarked]() that he'd hock over $25 billion for a "1 percent interest in all the farmland in the United States." Both figures are notorious for their hatred of Web3 assets like [crypto]() and [NFTs](), so it's not surprising that they're each fans of this necessary — and [tangible]() — resource. Regardless, [land has long equated to wealth](), and wealth, of course, is power, all of which Gates has a lot of already. And as [property values]() continue to skyrocket alongside ever-increasing [land consolidation](), it's definitely worth keeping an eye on who owns what — and just how much of it, exactly, they've managed to scoop up. **READ MORE:** *[North Dakota AG clears farmland purchase tied to Bill Gates]()* \[*The Associated Press*\] **More on (kind of affordable?) landownership:** [*Man Uses Life Savings to Buy Nonexistent Metaverse Land*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()