Who Owns the Most Land in the United States?

By any measure, 2024 was a standout year for America’s leading landowners. Last year, the Land Report 100 added more than 1,000 square miles of farmland, cattle ground, and timber tracts to their portfolios. This impressive series of acquisitions marked the biggest buying spree since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago. Transactions ranged in size from as small as 3 acres to more than 100,000.

There was, however, a notable exception to this trend: the record-setting sale of Brewster Ranch by Brad Kelley. At the beginning of the year, the Kentucky native ranked as the largest landowner in the Lone Star State. But on Oct. 29, The Land Report broke the news that Kelley had sold an enormous portion of his Texas landholdings to the Texas General Land Office. How much? Try more than 500 square miles. Read more about that transaction and other notable landowners from the Land Report 100 below.

Stan Kroenke

• Rank: No. 4
• Total acres: 1,762,000
• Change in acres from 2023: Up 62,000 acres
• States: Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Wyoming

The most recent addition to the Kroenke Ranches portfolio is Cañon Blanco Ranch, an 80,892-acre operating cattle ranch located less than 30 minutes from New Mexico’s capital city, Santa Fe. Situated on the southwest flank of Glorieta Mesa between the Sandia and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Cañon Blanco Ranch is a combination of 62,395 deeded acres, a 16,105-acre New Mexico state lease, and 2,392 acres of Bureau of Land Management-leased land.

Numerous enhancements were incorporated by the previous owners, including the acquisition of adjacent landholdings and the construction of a 14,000-square-foot hacienda. On its eastern flank, Cañon Blanco borders the 1.6-million-acre Santa Fe National Forest. 

Brad Kelley

• Rank: No. 12
• Total acres: 675,000
• Change in acres from 2023: Down 353,785 acres
• States: Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas

The largest privately owned ranch on the market in Texas sold to the oldest state agency in the Lone Star State. The Texas General Land Office (GLO) paid $164.6 million for Brad Kelley’s 353,785-acre Brewster Ranch. The ranch had been listed for $245,678,330. The sale closed on Oct. 24, 2024.

“As Texas Land Commissioner and the steward of more than 13 million acres of state land, I am proud to have acquired this beautiful property for the State of Texas,” said Commissioner Dawn Buckingham. “By securing this large swath of land along our southern border, the GLO is not only blocking foreign adversaries from purchasing this land but also ensuring this mineral-rich property will be generating revenue for the school children of Texas.”

Located in the Big Bend region of Far West Texas, Brewster Ranch is an assemblage of 28 historic ranches in Texas’s largest county that was parceled together by Kelley over a two-decade span.

At its height, Brewster Ranch totaled 431,846 acres. Three tracts — 22,940-acre Horse Mountain Ranch, which was listed for $26 million; 19,814-acre Tesnus Ranch, which was listed for $14 million; and 34,308-acre YE Mesa Ranch, which was listed for $20 million — were marketed and sold separately by King Land & Water.

Prior to the sale of Brewster Ranch, Kelley ranked as the largest private landowner in Texas with 940,000 acres. Texas Pacific Land Corporation is now the state’s largest landowner with 873,000 acres.

Stefan Soloviev

• Rank: No. 15
• Total acres: 617,000
• Change in acres from 2023: Up 81,897 acres
• States: Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, New York

The New York native debuted on the Land Report 100 a dozen years ago at No. 82 with 125,000 acres of dryland farms in western Kansas, eastern Colorado, and southeast New Mexico. Since 2012, Stefan Soloviev’s acreage total has steadily climbed as the Soloviev Group expanded into all manner of land-related enterprises ranging from farming and ranching to renewable energy and short-line railroads, a project nearly two decades in the making. In 2024, Soloviev became one of the top 20 private landowners in the nation with the purchase of more than 80,000 acres of ranchland in eastern New Mexico. Soloviev’s cattle operation produces more than 1.5 million pounds of live beef each year. 

Taylor Sheridan

• Rank: No. 49
• Total acres: 267,000
• Change in acres from 2023: Up 745 acres
• States: Texas, Wyoming

The TV and film producer synonymous with the West these days has expanded his own ranching empire to the Cowboy State. In September 2024, Taylor Sheridan purchased the 179-acre Papa’s Creek Ranch in Star Valley, Wyoming, a spectacular undeveloped property about 65 miles from Jackson Hole. The ranch was listed for $4.95 million. 

While impressive, the sale accounts for a mere fraction of the creative powerhouse’s landholdings. The Texas native vaulted into the Land Report 100 when he bought the three divisions of the legendary 266,000-acre Four Sixes Ranch from the estate of Anne Marion. 

Perhaps Papa’s Creek Ranch will nab a starring role in one of his dramas, which include the hits 1883 and 1923. The latter program famously stars Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford. Sheridan’s other Texas ranch, the 600-acre Bosque Ranch in Parker County, has done double duty as a set for Yellowstone and its popular spin-offs.

Papa’s Creek, meanwhile, has a much different look. The Wyoming property has two meandering streams that offer superior trout fishing. Species include wild brown, rainbow, and cutthroat. 

Papa’s Creek’s territorial water rights predate Wyoming’s statehood. The flood-irrigated property produces an abundance of high mountain hay. Bookended by the Salt River Range to the east and the Webster Range to the west, the acreage is sure to inspire awe and perhaps spark an idea or two. 

Fanjul Family

• Rank: No. 61
• Total acres: 229,000 acres
• Change in acres from 2023: Up 34,500 acres
• States: Florida

Six decades have passed since Cuban natives Alfonso and Jose “Pepe” Fanjul fled Fidel Castro’s regime and founded their Florida sugarcane operation in West Palm Beach. Today, the brothers’ Florida Crystals Corporation produces the only certified organic sugar that is grown, harvested, and milled in the U.S. They also produce certified organic rice. 

Learn More

The Land Report 100 is a comprehensive survey of the nation’s leading landowners compiled by the Land Report 100 Research Team. View the full Land Report 100 here.