Bill Gates does not fully own John Deere, but through his investment vehicle, Cascade Investment LLC, he is the company's largest individual shareholder. He holds a significant minority stake, reported as high as 7% to over 10% at various times.
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.
Bill Gates Deere & Co.
The investor owns 1.26% 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.
More Gates Foundation Trust Holdings
Bill Gates Owns 275,000 Acres of U.S. Farmland — He Explains Why He's Buying So Much...But It's Not the 'Grand Scheme' You Think.
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 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.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Q1 2024 filing shows holdings of $604 million in Coca-Cola shares and nearly $97 million in Kraft Heinz, the maker of Kraft mac and cheese and Jell-O. Dalio-founded Bridgewater Associates also holds significant investments in Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Starbucks.
Bill Gates Amazon.com Inc.
Since then Bill Gates bought shares one more times and sold shares on three occasions. The investor sold all their shares in Q4 2023 and doesn't own any shares in Amazon.com anymore.
Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere, is a publically traded company, and the largest shareholder is Bill Gates.
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.
Microsoft (25%)
Gates owned 45% of Microsoft shares after its initial public offering in 1986. Today he owns less than 1% of the company. A lot of Gates' stock went to the Gates Foundation over the years, including a donation of roughly $5 billion worth of shares in 2022.
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.
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.
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. According to lovemoney.com, the church owns more than 70 million hectares. An area that is larger than France.