Stan Kroenke, the largest private landowner in the US

American tycoon Stan Kroenke, known for his sports and real estate empires, has risen to the top of the list of the largest private landowners in the United States, controlling more than 2.7 million acres (1 hectare, approximately 2.47 acres), according to the latest report published by The Land Report. Kroenke's rise to the top position was driven by a major off-market transaction in December, when he purchased more than 937,000 acres of ranch land in the state of New Mexico from the heirs of Henry Singleton, the founder of Teledyne. According to The Land Report, this is the largest private land transaction in the US in the last decade. The acquisition catapulted Kroenke from fourth to first place in the rankings, surpassing established names such as the Emmerson family, which owns about 2.44 million acres of forest through Sierra Pacific Industries, Liberty Media founder John Malone, with about 2.2 million acres, and former CNN owner Ted Turner, with about 2 million acres, according to Fox Business. The New Mexico land purchases are not compact, but are divided into multiple parcels, used primarily for raising cattle and horses, a core activity in Kroenke's agricultural portfolio. Stan Kroenke, owner of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams and the Arsenal FC soccer club, initially built his fortune in real estate developments before expanding aggressively into professional sports. Over the decades, he has amassed a vast portfolio of land, predominantly for grazing and ranching, in the western United States and Canada. Among the most important properties are Q Creek Ranch in Wyoming (560,000 acres), Waggoner Ranch in Texas (535,000 acres), Broken O Ranch in Montana, Winecup Gamble Ranch in Nevada, and Douglas Lake Ranch in British Columbia, Canada. The total size of Kroenke's land holdings is remarkable: the combined area exceeds that of Yellowstone National Park and is equivalent to about two million football fields, according to Fox Business estimates. In contrast, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates remains the largest private owner of productive farmland in the United States, with about 275,000 acres spread across several states. Although the area is much smaller compared to that owned by Kroenke, Gates' position is considered relevant in the context of the growing interest in food security and control of agricultural resources.