Skip to main content
SORRY, FOLKS

Controversial Farmland Sale Linked to Bill Gates Is Green-Lit by State Official

North Dakotans were alarmed and angry when an entity linked to the billionaire scooped up $13.5 million of land.

GettyImages-1401602863_ndqkmq

Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME

By Noah Kirsch

A $13.5 million land purchase seemingly tied to Bill Gates agitated North Dakotans earlier this month, a controversy that swelled further when the state’s attorney general demanded more information about the deal. Now the AG’s office has signed off on the transaction—which closed last year but only recently came to light—saying it complied with state laws. The approval may not mollify aggrieved locals, some of whom felt the 2,100-acre deal quietly went for below market price and prevented state residents from making bids of their own. Gates is the largest farmland owner in America, with more than 240,000 acres to his name, according to Land Report.

Read it at Associated Press

TRENDING NOW