by Microsoft founder and billionaire turned philanthropist Bill Gates not too long ago laid to relaxation the long-time conspiracy idea that he owns some 80% of all U.S. farmland in his eleventh look in an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session on Reddit.
What Happened: Gates, answering dozens of questions over the course of some hours through the AMA, together with: “Why are you shopping for up a lot farmland, do you suppose it is a drawback with billionaire wealth and the way a lot you possibly can disproportionally purchase?”
In response, he mentioned, “I personal lower than 1/4000 of the farmland within the US. I’ve invested in these farms to make them extra productive and create extra jobs. There is not some grand scheme concerned – in reality all these choices are made by knowledgeable funding group.”
While Gates has spent billions investing in farm properties to make them extra productive, new companies have innovated methods for the retail investor to earn passive income in the actual property market. Here’s invest as little as $100 (or extra, relying in your urge for food) in a rental property to earn passive earnings and build long-term wealth.
Last yr, conspiracy theorists claimed that the Microsoft founder was shopping for up farmland within the U.S. with a view to starve Americans for an unknown motive, Snopes said, after researchers mentioned in April that the world was going through a possible meals scarcity on account of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Read additionally: Which Billionaire Owns The Most Land In The U.S.? Hint, It’s Not Bill Gates
According to a 2022 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Agriculture Statistics Service, there are 895,300,000 acres of farmland within the U.S.
Gates owns roughly 242,000 acres, amounting to about 0.03% of the entire.
To put it into perspective, if all of Gates’ land was in a single place, it could cowl about 25% of Rhode Island.
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This article initially appeared on Benzinga.com
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