Bill Gates, who already owns close to 270,000 acres of land in the U.S., has been granted the legal authority to buy another 2100 acres in North Dakota despite protests by local residents.
Gates, already the largest farmland owner in the country, has secured the go ahead to buy the land for $13.5 million under his ‘Red River Trust’ company.
Bill Gates’ exposed ND land buy has locals livid pic.twitter.com/HTuwqSPRDB
— Wittgenstein (@backtolife_2023) June 24, 2022
Gates is circumventing a 1932 anti-corporate farm ownership law by pledging to lease the land back to farmers after the purchase is complete.
The Daily Mail reports:
North Dakota’s Agriculture Commissioner, Republican Doug Goehring, previously said that many people feel they are being exploited by the ultra-rich who buy land but do not necessarily share the state’s values.
‘I’ve gotten a big earful on this from clear across the state, it’s not even from that neighborhood,’ Goehring told KFYR-TV. ‘Those people are upset, but there are others that are just livid about this.’
Read More: Bill Gates Granted Authority To Buy 2100 More Acres Of North Dakota Farmland
