Billionaires' assets: land holdings, water resources and nuclear energy

Land holdings as an investment instrument

While the collective investor base is focused on stock market dynamics, representatives of the wealthiest segment of the population are purchasing assets that cannot be artificially replicated. These resources include land, water reserves and energy. An interesting fact is that the largest private landowner in the United States has no connection to agriculture — he is the owner of a professional football team.

As of 4 November 2026, the assets held by individuals planning their activities on a decades-long scale were analysed. The majority of these investments are confirmed by official documents.

The first key direction is the acquisition of land plots. Stan Kroenke, owner of the Los Angeles Rams club, controls 2.7 million acres of land. Jeff Bezos owns 462,000 acres. Bill Gates has 275,000 acres of agricultural land at his disposal. The public has repeatedly asked him about the purpose of such purchases. Gates explained that this is a decision by his investment group, which does not involve the implementation of any global plan. We see a simpler explanation: the average cost of an acre in the US has increased by 4.3% over the year, reaching a level of approximately $4,350, while the cost of renting has increased by only 0.6%. Buyers are not financing agricultural production, but rather acquiring an asset that retains its value regardless of currency fluctuations.

Island estates and strategic reserves

A separate investment direction is the acquisition of land on remote islands. Peter Thiel obtained New Zealand citizenship in 2011, having spent only 12 days in the country, according to local press data, and purchased an estate near Lake Wanaka. Mark Zuckerberg has been developing a ranch on the island of Kauai since 2014, which now covers an area of approximately 4,000 acres, where Wagyu cattle are raised. A billionaire's doomsday bunker looks like a farm. Because a farm is the best bunker.

Water resources on the stock market

The second important asset is water. Since December 2020, futures on California water have been traded on the CME exchange. Michael Burry, the famous investor featured in the film The Big Short, stated as early as 2015 that he was focused on water resources. The New York-based fund Water Asset Management is buying agricultural land in the Colorado River Valley to obtain water rights, which are legally tied to these plots. Control over water resources in the arid regions of the West allows for the sale of water to urban agglomerations.

Nuclear energy and artificial intelligence needs

The third direction is energy, which involves the largest sums and public deals. Microsoft signed a 20-year contract worth $16 billion for the supply of all energy from the restarted Three Mile Island power plant; the launch is expected at the end of 2027. Amazon invested $700 million in the company X-energy for a dozen small modular reactors. Meta signed deals to purchase 6.6 gigawatts of nuclear energy, while Google acquired 1.8 gigawatts of new capacity. The company TerraPower, founded by Bill Gates, is building a reactor in Wyoming. During 2026, these companies signed more than ten nuclear deals for a total capacity of approximately 10 gigawatts.

The reason for this activity is forecasts regarding energy consumption. By the end of the current decade, data centres operating on artificial intelligence technologies in the US will consume more electricity than the aluminium, steel, cement and chemical industries combined. The queue for connection to the US power grid has already exceeded 2,600 gigawatts, and the waiting time for connection is almost five years.

Large capital investments are directed not towards obtaining direct profit, but towards acquiring basic resources without which the existence of any business becomes impossible.