A Kentucky native and Tennessee resident, he is the Lone Star State’s largest landowner.
Tobacco magnate Brad Kelly owns 940,000 acres in the state, mostly in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas, according to the 2024 Land Report 100.
Mr Kelly made his fortune selling Commonwealth Brands, a discount cigarette brand he founded, before buying and selling Lonely Planet travel guides and getting involved in spirits distilling, thoroughbred horse breeding and racing.
The largest ranch property in Kelly’s Texas portfolio is Brewster Ranch, a collection of 28 properties covering an area roughly half the size of Rhode Island.
Kelly is now looking to sell Brewster Ranch, just north of Big Bend National Park, for an asking price of more than $245 million. The ranch is being sold by James King of King Land & Water LLC.
Kelly’s land holdings across the United States total 1 million acres, including land in New Mexico.
The Land Report is a publication focused on the asset class of land, compiling ownership figures across the country through county deed records, financial reports, company news releases and other research and verification.
Although Kelly is a prolific landowner, he is not the largest in the country, ranking ninth.
The Emerson family, which owns and controls Sierra Pacific Industries, a producer of lumber, lumber products, windows and renewable energy, ranked first, according to the RAND Report 100.
The family reportedly owns more than 2.4 million acres of land in California, Oregon and Washington.
The fourth-largest landowner in the U.S. also has ties to Texas.
Stan Kroenke, who owns 1.7 million acres across Texas, Wyoming and Nevada, bought the Waggoner Ranch, about 175 miles northwest of Dallas-Fort Worth, in 2016.
