Ted Turner: Colorado’s Second Largest Landowner

When it comes to owning land in Colorado, who owns the most? Has there been a changing of the guard? One website says so.

One person owns an unbelievable 270,000 acres of land in the Centennial State. He also happens to be one of the largest landowners in the United States. Has it happened, though, that someone else has taken over the top spot?

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Largest Land Owners In Colorado

Less than a month ago, on January 16, 2023, the website AZ Animals published an article listing the six largest landowners in Colorado. The website adds Colorado is home to 66 million acres of land, and 24.5 million are private rangelands.

The List According to AZAnimals.com

1. Private Rangelands — 24.5 Million Acres
2. Federal Government — 24.1 Million Acres
3. Land Trusts — 3.4 Million Acres
4. Colorado State Land Board — 2.8 Million Acres
5. Ted Turner — 550,000 Acres
6. John Malone — 270,000 Acres

Wait A Minute... What Just Happened?

When did Ted Turner pass John Malone as Colorado's largest landowner? This warrants a little investigation.

At #6... Meet John Malone

Meet John Malone. According to World Population Review, John Malone owns a mind-blowing 270,000 acres of land in Colorado.

Do you find that impressive? Well, guess what. He owns even more land in other states. As a matter of fact, he's the second-largest landowner in the United States. How much dirt does this guy own in the good o' U.S.A.? Believe it or not, he owns a whopping 2.2 million acres of property.

Just How Big Are 270,000 Acres?

If you crunch the numbers using the handy-dandy Google thing-a-ma-jiggy, you'll find 270,000 acres equals 431.875 square miles. To put that into perspective, the entire state of Connecticut measures 5,543 square miles. Massachusetts measures 10,565 square miles. According to Google, the surface of Earth's moon measures 14.6 million square miles.

Given that the surface of planet Earth is 196.9 million square miles, this dude Malone owns 0.000219337227% of the planet.

Who Is John Malone?

Put simply, John Malone is my new best buddy. According to Forbes, John C. Malone is worth an estimated $9.3 billion. That was a billion, with a "b."

Nicknamed the "Cable Cowboy," he is known for his talent for media deals and complex corporate structures. In 1973, at the ripe old age of 29, he became the CEO of TCI. FYI, just ICYDN, he later sold the firm AT&T for more than $50 billion. Again, that's a billion with a "b."

Does Malone Live In Colorado?

As a matter of fact, he does. Malone, 81, a husband and father, resides in Elizabeth, Colorado.

How Much Land Does Ted Turner Own?

This is where we have a problem. According to AZ Animals, Ted Turner owns a mindblowing 550,000 acres. This is no doubt true. Ted Turner owns the amazing Vermejo Park Ranch, occupying an impressive 550,000 acres of land. So, then, what is the problem?

Put simply, not all of the 550,000 acres belonging to Turner are located in Colorado. As a matter of fact, most of it isn't.

According to a 119-page report from npshistory.com, Ted Turner's 492,560-acre (roughly 772 square miles) Vermojo Park Ranch is divided across these areas:

• A total of 418,210 acres of the Ranch is in Colfax County,
  New Mexico
• 70,350 acres are in Taos County, New Mexico
• 4,000 acres are in Costilla County, Colorado

As you can see from the bullet points, a relatively small percentage of the property is located in Colorado.

In Conclusion

Unless anyone objects, regardless of the information provided by AZ Animals, the evidence suggests that John Malone is still the largest landowner in the state of Colorado as of the year 2023.