As of 2025, the largest landowner in the United States is Red Emmerson. Red and his family own 2,440,000 acres (987,442 hectares) in California, Oregon and Washington through their forest products company, Sierra Pacific Industries. The second largest landowner, John Malon, owned 2,200,000 acres (890,309 hectares). The third is none other than CNN founder Ted Turner, 2 million acres (809,372 hectares) in the Southeast, the Great Plains and the West.
The Land Report 100 research team analyzes transactions and scours archives to determine the top U.S. landowners. This is how she learned, in 2020, that Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, owned farmland in the United States, with more than 260,000 acres (105,218 ha).
| List of the 20 largest landowners | |||
| Rank | Name | Total Acres | Change in Acres From 2023 |
| 12 | Brad Kelley | 675,000 | -353,785 |
| 11 | Briscoe Family | 738,000 | No change |
| 7 | Buck Family | 1,236,000 | No change |
| 1 | Emmerson Family | 2,440,000 | +28,800 |
| 17 | Ford Family | 600,000 | No change |
| 6 | Irving Family | 1,267,792 | No change |
| 2 | John Malone | 2,200,000 | No change |
| 9 | King Ranch Heirs | 911,215 | No change |
| 16 | Lykes Heirs | 615,000 | No change |
| 18 | O'Connor Heirs | 587,800 | No change |
| 10 | Pingree Heirs | 830,000 | No change |
| 5 | Reed Family | 1,661,000 | No change |
| 8 | Singleton Family | 1,100,000 | No change |
| 4 | Stan Kroenke | 1,762,000 | +62,000 |
| 15 | Stefan Soloviev | 617,000 | +81,897 |
| 20 | Stimson Family | 552,000 | No change |
| 3 | Ted Turner | 2,000,000 | No change |
| 14 | Thomas Peterffy | 647,000 | +66,000 |
| 19 | Westervelt Heirs | 566,000 | No change |
| 12 | Wilks Brothers | 675,000 | No change |
Source : Successfull Farming
