There’s a new number one on the list of the nation’s largest landowners in the United States. If you don’t recognize the name Stan Kroenke, you’re likely familiar with at least one of the sports teams he owns: The NBA’S Denver Nuggets, the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. The sports and entertainment mogul now owns about 2.7 million acres of private land, consisting mostly of cattle ranches. That’s according to the new Land Report 100 list.
Kroenke has significant land holdings in Montana and Wyoming. He owns the 124,000 acre Broken O ranch near Augusta, MT, the Cedar Creek Ranch near Ennis and the PV Ranch near Hysham. Kroenke also owns approximately 560,000 acres in Wyoming including the Q Creek Ranch, often described as the largest contiguous ranch in the Rocky Mountains.
Rounding out the top 5 largest landowners in the country are the Emmerson family, owners of Sierra Pacific Industries, owns 2,440,000 acres. John Malone, Liberty Media Chairman Emeritus, has 2,200,000 acres. CNN founder Ted Turner owns an even 2,000,000 acres, and the Reed family, forestry business owners, have 1,615,000 acres to round out the top five.
One of the major landowners in Montana include the Wilks Brothers who own 652,000 acres across Montana, Idaho and Oregon. In August 2025, they sold their Anchor Ranch to the American Prairie. The ranch totals 67,960 acres, including 22,837 acres of deeded land and 45,123 leased acres.
The Galt Family in Meagher County, Montana come in at number 50 on the Land Report 100 list and are the number 4 landowner in Montana at 262,000 acres. The Galt family has been ranching in Montana for over 100 years. Nestled between the Big Belt and the Little Belt Mountains, the Galt Ranch is located in central Montana near White Sulphur Springs.
The Coffee Family is another historic Montana ranching family on the list. Patriarch CM Coffee started the Coffee Cattle Company near Miles City in Custer and Rosebud Counties. The family also owns and operates Stockman Bank which has over 35 branches across Montana.
Number 72 on the list is the Scott Family that owns 220,000 acres in Montana and Wyoming. Homer and Mildred Scott started the Padlock Ranch in 1943 that today raises over 10,000 head feeder cattle on the 475,000-acre ranch which is headquartered along the Tongue River and straddles the Montana–Wyoming state line. A significant portion of the ranch’s leased lands lie on the Crow Indian Reservation in Southern Montana.
The Reese Family in Eastern Wyoming has owned the Rockin’ 7 Ranch since 1914. At 208,000 acres, the Reese Family comes in at number 80 on the list.
Number 99 on the list is the Broadbent Family in Southwest Wyoming. The family has been in Uinta County since the early 1900s. The Broadbent Family still runs cattle and sheep and are leaders in the Wyoming Ag industry with Vance Broadbent serving as President of the Wyoming Woolgrowers in 2020.
Other names that folks are likely to recognize include Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, number 21 on the list owning 462,000 acres. Clocking in at number 24 is the Simplot Family with 443,000 acres. The family-owned J.R. Simplot Company has extensive cattle ranching and phosphate-mining interests and grows more than a dozen crops on 82,500 acres of farmland in the US.
Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates owns 275,000 acres of land, coming in at number 44 on the list. Taylor Sheridan, the creator of the Yellowstone TV show is the number 49 largest landowner in the nation at 267,000 acres, which includes the historic Four Sixes Ranch in Texas.
The Hunt Family owns 240,000 acres which places it at number 59 on the list. The Hunt family first made its fortune in the East Texas Oil Field and today operates farms and ranches in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Wyoming via Hoodoo Land and Cattle.
