Bill Gates did not buy (acquire) the entirety of John Deere, but his investment firm, Cascade Investment, is a major shareholder. As of 2025, Cascade holds a significant stake—roughly 7.31%, or over 19 million shares—making it one of the largest investors in the company.
Bill Gates Deere & Co.
The investor owns 1.19% of the outstanding Deere stock. The first Deere trade was made in Q3 2021. Since then Bill Gates bought shares one more times and sold shares on two occasions. The stake costed the investor $1.23B, netting the investor a gain of 34% so far.
John Deere (Deere & Company) is publicly traded, so no single individual is the majority owner; instead, large institutional investors own significant chunks, with Vanguard Group, Cascade Investment (Bill Gates' firm), and BlackRock being top shareholders, holding around 7-8% each as of late 2025/early 2026, while institutional investors collectively hold over 70% of the company.
According to the 2025 Land Report, Gates ranks 43rd among America's largest private landowners with 275,000 acres. Roughly 248,000 of those acres are active farmland, while other holdings include projects like TerraPower's nuclear facility in Wyoming.
Recent estimates indicate that Bill Gates owns over 250,000 acres of farmland across the United States and is the nation's largest private farmland owner (2). Gates himself said in a 2021 Reddit AMA that he owns roughly 1/4000 of all U.S. farmland (3).
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ranked 21st with 462,000 acres. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates qualified at No. 44 with 275,000 acres. Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, who owns Texas's historic Four Sixes Ranch, ranked 49th.
Bill Gates owns multiple mansions in California
Bill is said to own at least three different mansion properties in California, with one each in Indian Wells, Rancho Santa Fe, and Del Mar. The largest of those appears to be the Rancho Santa Fe mansion, which lies on 229 acres of horse property.
John C. May, Deere & Co.'s CEO, received a total compensation package around $26-$28 million for the 2024 fiscal year, including a base salary of approximately $1.66 million, substantial bonuses, stock awards, and options, reflecting strong performance metrics like increased equipment operations and return on equity, with most compensation coming from performance-based equity and incentives, according to filings.
According to data compiled by John Deere, Mexico is the second largest consumer of its construction equipment in Latin America, with a growth of 76% since 2022. “We see Mexico as an attractive market, which is why we are investing in the expansion of our dealers and growth in new territories,” Morini said.
Bill Gates Costco Wholesale Corp
The first Costco Wholesale trade was made in Q3 2002. Since then Bill Gates bought shares ten more times and sold shares on four occasions. The investor sold all their shares in Q4 2012 and doesn't own any shares in Costco Wholesale anymore.
John Deere (Deere & Company) is publicly traded, so no single individual is the majority owner; instead, large institutional investors own significant chunks, with Vanguard Group, Cascade Investment (Bill Gates' firm), and BlackRock being top shareholders, holding around 7-8% each as of late 2025/early 2026, while institutional investors collectively hold over 70% of the company.
As an asset class, farmland has proven to be a remarkably stable investment, offering an average annual return of 5% net of inflation over the past three decades, a fact not lost on the financial savvy of Gates and his team.
Bill Gates designed and owns a 66,000-square-foot (6,100 m2) mansion that is on Lake Washington in Medina, Washington. In 2009, property taxes were reported to be US$1.063 million on a total assessed value of US$147.5 million.
L.A. Rams Owner Stan Kroenke Becomes Largest Private Landowner in the U.S. A December purchase of 937,000 acres of land brought Mr. Kroenke's total holdings to 2.7 million acres, according to a new report.
Roman Catholic Church: 70 million hectares
The largest landowner in the world is not a major oil magnate or a real estate investor. No, it's the Roman Catholic Church.
She once donated USD 7 million (IDR 110 billion) to Baylor University. CALIFORNIA – Paula Hurd has attracted growing public interest since officially becoming the partner of Bill Gates, one of the wealthiest individuals in the world.
The "24-year-old trader making $8 million" refers primarily to Jack Kellogg, a successful day trader who reported over $8 million in gains from trading in 2020 and 2021, starting with just $7,500 and leveraging key indicators like VWAP, support/resistance, volume, and linear regression for simple, adaptable strategies. His story highlights achieving significant returns by weathering different market conditions, learning from losses, and sticking to core principles rather than overcomplicating things.