Who Owns More Land: Bill Gates, McDonald's or The Catholic Church?

Dan Budzyn
Mon, August 29, 2022 at 8:21 AM·4 min read




Land is the investment of choice for moguls. Bill Gates has invested heavily in farmland. People have said for years that McDonald’s Corp is actually a real estate company that sells food. You might not have realized that the Catholic Church owns lots of real estate. Which of these billion-dollar entities owns more of what might be considered the most precious commodity on earth — land? Benzinga did the research, and the results might surprise you.

The Case for Bill Gates: Microsoft Corp co-founder is largely considered the biggest private owner of farmland in the U.S. with nearly 270,000 acres. This number stems from last year's edition of The Land Report. It’s reasonable to assume that the purchases haven’t slowed down.

While Gates has said that the purchases are a result of his investment groups, he also recognizes the potential and the importance of farmland. He said in an ask-me-anything (AMA) session on Reddit that the purchases were linked to seed and biofuel development.

The Land Report reference came out in winter 2021, after which controversies circulated about Gates’ accumulation of American farmland.
Total acreage for Bill Gates: Well over 270,000 acres

The Case For McDonald’s: The McDonald’s brand is massive and has been around since 1955. Over nearly 70 years, McDonald’s currently sits at just over 39,000 locations as of January 2022. Those locations each come with approximately 1.2 acres. The research suggests that McDonald's owns about 70% of the buildings and 45% of the land at its locations worldwide. Once all the math is done, calculations show that McDonald’s owns around 47,037 acres of land.

McDonald’s only owns and operates about 15% of locations directly. The remainder is run by franchisees.

McDonald’s real business is acting as the landlord of its franchisees. It sets the ground rules and provides the layout for success. It’s been said that burgers are only sold because it’s the easiest way for its tenants to profit and pay it back.

Its intent is to purchase land, and a new McDonald’s is opened every 15 hours. As a result, McDonald’s income and land ownership continue to grow.

Total acreage for McDonald’s: 50,000 acres and growing

The case for the Catholic Church: The Catholic Church owns 177 million acres of land across the globe for its churches and schools as well as owning farmland and forest land.

If this number sounds astonishing to you, you’re not alone. The report comes from Yale Climate Connections, and its story about land ownership by the Catholic Church explains the importance its decisions can have on the environment.

The report tells the story of Molly Burhans, executive director of Goodlands, who discovered that the Catholic Church lacked a comprehensive inventory of its land ownership. Molly claimed that the Church hadn’t had an update to its inventory since the Holy Roman Empire.

After gaining permission from the Vatican, Burhans underwent a comprehensive of bringing the Church into the 21st century. A live database provides a visual of all its land holdings.

Total for the Catholic Church: 177,000,000 acres

Conclusion: The Catholic Church owns the most land, far more than McDonald’s and billionaire Bill Gates. If you are concerned about environmental change, global warming and climate change, this massive player has been flying under the radar.

Regardless if you’re an individual operating a 501(c)(3) or a massive corporation, land ownership should remain a priority. If you’re unable to take the first steps in owning property of your own, consider the following two paths.

Real estate investment trust (REIT) ownership: Purchased like a stock, these industry-specific holdings allow you to purchase property in an industry you believe in.

Crowdfunding: Real estate crowdfunding platforms allow you the opportunity to invest in fractional ownership of specific properties and real estate developments. These long-hold investments can prove to be fruitful over time.


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McDonald's Just Started Selling a Burger That Might Signal the End of the World As We Know It

It's come to this.

By Chris Matyszczyk

Chris Matyszczyk advises clients about advertising and marketing through his company Howard Raucous. In 2013, MediaPost named him the Most Influential Person on Madison Avenue. Full bio
@ChrisMatyszczyk

Owner, Howard Raucous LLC@ChrisMatyszczyk




Now just imagine that brown stuff is soy-based.

CREDIT: Getty Images


Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek.


Please lie here on my purple chaise-longue and let's play word association.

When I say "McDonald's," what's the first word that comes into your head?

Beef.

Fries.

Quarter Pounder.

Big Mac.

Unhealthy.

Stop, stop.

I just asked for one word.

Still, my expert analysis tells me that there was one word that never entered your head.

Please let me tell you, then...no, wait, here's a glass of fine Napa Sauvignon Blanc.

Ready?

McDonald's just launched a Vegan Burger.

Breathe. Don't look down yet. (There's a picture of it there, but don't think about that now.)

The new vegan burger is imaginatively called the McVegan.

The patty is soy-based and the rest of it is, well, what you'd expect.

Now I know this is a little bit of a shock for you. An even greater shock, perhaps, than when McDonald's started experimenting with fresh beef in its Quarter Pounders.

OK, I think you're ready for the picture.

Look, if the very concept is too much for you, I'll try and give you some good news.

The McVegan is currently only available in Finland. And McDonald's hasn't given any indication that it's bringing it to the U.S.

I must warn you, however, that some people are excited at the prospect of the McVegan.

They're already yearning for it on Twitter.

Change is life's great inevitable.

You just have to adjust. Or make sure you never go to Seattle, where they're already craving it.

Another glass of Sauvignon Blanc, perhaps?


Published on: Oct 6, 2017


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Outrage in one of the world's healthiest towns as McDonald's gets approval to open up a restaurant

By Daniel Bates

Last updated at 11:29 PM on 19th December 2011


It is one of the healthiest towns in the world with a life expectancy well above 80.
But the residents of Loma Linda in California have been left outraged and in fear for their children after McDonald’s was given permission to open up a restaurant.
Locals fear the arrival of the fast food chain will mean their boys and girls will embrace a fatty diet of burgers and fries rather than follow their virtuous example.

Health conscious: Many of the residents of Loma Linda in California are vegetarian 

Half of the 23,000 residents in Loma Linda are Seventh-day Adventists, or Protestant Christians who prize healthy living and are normally vegetarian.

They have banned smoking in almost any public place in the city, only certain businesses can sell alcohol and meat can be hard to come by.

Saturday is observed as the Sabbath and no work is done while locals spend time with their families.

Loma Linda has approved fast food restaurants in the past, although McDonald’s appears to have a significance beyond just a locally-run burger joint.
The company went through the tough approval process and to the dismay of some, it got the green light.
Wayne Dysinger, a physician and public health professor in the preventive medicine department at Loma Linda University’s School of Medicine, told the New York Times that he was worried about the influence of pester power.

Neat and tidy: Residents are concerned the town's children will embrace an unhealthy lifestyle 

He said: 'We know from research that if a school is near a fast-food restaurant, the kids there are more likely to be obese.
'We will never eliminate unhealthy choices, and pretty much everyone has an unhealthy treat once in a while.
'I am going to drive by that intersection every day and it’s fairly likely that they will say "Oh Daddy, can we stop there’ more often. Why do we need to encourage that?'
Loma Linda was first settled by American Indians and given the name Guachama, or 'plenty to eat.'
The first white settlers arrived along with the railroads in the early 1800s and it was founded as Mound City.
It quickly became a place for Seventh-day Adventists when the church acquired a former hotel in 1905 and transformed it into a sanitarium that eventually became part of Loma Linda University.

Green light: McDonald's now has permission to open up in the ultra-healthy town

In July one of the city’s residents celebrated her 104th birthday with a parade through the main street with her granddaughter.
Edna Mae Winegar said the secret to living a long life was that her mother was a vegetarian and that she lived simply.
She also saw the value in hard work well into her 70s and 80s would be out for hours each day harvesting crops.
Dan Buettner, an author and healthy living advocate, told the New York Times that Loma Linda was one of just four places in the world with a high number of people who routinely live past 100.
He said: 'You have to realise how easy it is to be healthy there, you don’t even have to think about it and it’s the default choice.
'Your social network is all concerned about the same thing. They are really trying to preserve the culture that has been established for a really long time.'
The city’s mayor Rhodes Rigsby added that he did not think that government should be stopping people from eating meat - or junk food - if they wanted.
However, he did say he would back a city-wide vote to ban fast food restaurants entirely as a way of dealing with the issue.
He said: 'I don’t think we should be getting into the business of legislating vegetarianism.
'If this is something that people are really opposed to, that’s how we should deal with it.'

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2076346/Outrage-ultra-healthy-Loma-Linda-McDonalds-gets-approval-open-restaurant.html#ixzz1hSo7XpgG