Let’s say you’re a politically influential billionaire and you have a sprawling ranch you’d like to part ways with. Who’s your target buyer for such a property? Based on one recent real-life example, the answer is “another politically influential billionaire.” Such is one of the takeaways from the news that Rupert Murdoch recently bought a ranch in Montana from Koch Industries. In other words, it’s the Succession/Yellowstone crossover episode no one expected.
At The Guardian, Luke O’Neil has more information on the sale — as well as some alarming observations on its possible implications. The ranch itself encompasses 340,000 acres, and is situated a short distance from Yellowstone National Park. The sale price was in the neighborhood of $200 million, making for the largest in the history of the state.
This is one of several large properties that Koch Industries has placed on the market recently, reports The Guardian. A Wall Street Journal article from earlier in the year focused on Koch Industries’ relatively recent foray into real estate. It went on to observe that “[i]n some ways, Koch’s property arm more closely resembles sovereign-wealth funds than other U.S. real-estate investors.”
A statement from Murdoch referred to the billionaire “[looking] forward to continually enhancing both the commercial cattle business and the conservation assets across the ranch.” The property is also home to thousands of elk and hundreds of antelope and mule deer. As for what will or won’t change under Murdoch’s ownership, that still remains to be seen.
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