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Bill Gates is doing the same thing. It's annoying. https://agfundernews.com/gates-if-not-for-climate-then-why-is-bill-buying-up-so-much-farmland.html https://a

by brink 5y ago

Bill Gates is doing the same thing. It's annoying. https://agfundernews.com/gates-if-not-for-climate-then-why-is-bill-buying-up-so-much-farmland.html https://agfundernews.com/gates-if-not-for-climate-then-why-i...

verisimi 5y ago
"Despite sustainable agricultural development being one of the key focus areas for his nonprofit Gates Foundation, the Microsoft co-founder claims that his farmland investments are not tied to climate. But while Gates might be solely focused on returns, one should not overlook farmland investing’s potential to drive sustainability on a massive scale." how is a non-profit able to make farmland investments at all? What exactly is the difference between an investment vehicle and a non-profit? But... these guys care for us!
- hellbannedguy 5y ago
  1. His 501c3 gives back less than 1% back to the USA. 2. Personally, I feel like most nonprofits are shady, especially the rich boy tax dodging ones. 3. I have paid a tax on every pc I bought over the years because of him. Will never understand his fans.
- oh_sigh 5y ago
  Because a non-profit in the US just means that they can't distribute profits to the shareholders, not that they can't try to make money. They just need to use their profits to further their mission instead of distributing to shareholders. For example, the Gates Foundation could own a completely conventional farm, and run it like a conventional farm, but any profits they generate could be used to buy and deliver malaria pills to at-need countries (or something like that). That would be an acceptable reason a non-profit owns farmland.
  - missedthecue 5y ago
    The giant German conglomerate Bosch is structured in a similar way. 92% of the company is owned by the Bosch family charitable foundation 'Robert Bosch Stiftung'
  - blitzar 5y ago
    any profits they generate could be used to buy more farms to make more profits to buy more farms with
  - verisimi 5y ago
    sure - it could buy malaria pills, or it could just buy more farms.
dillondoyle 5y ago
I think in the US there are also a good tax breaks for creating 'farms' on your land. Since we give so much subsidy to the industry. IIRC lot of billionaires will get sheep grazing or something like that to claim their mega mansions as farms. I thought I remember Marc Cuban is an example but can't find a quick source. So maybe my memory is wrong on this one.
- 20211215throw 5y ago
  Here in NJ a typical middle class house pays 10-25k/yr in property taxes. But if you have 5 acres and sell a few thousand dollars worth of pumpkins you pay near zero because you're a farm. https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/09/how-to-cut-your-property-taxes-in-nj-start-a-farm.html https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/09/how-to-cut-your-property...

by brink 5y ago

verisimi 5y ago

"Despite sustainable agricultural development being one of the key focus areas for his nonprofit Gates Foundation, the Microsoft co-founder claims that his farmland investments are not tied to climate. But while Gates might be solely focused on returns, one should not overlook farmland investing’s potential to drive sustainability on a massive scale." how is a non-profit able to make farmland investments at all? What exactly is the difference between an investment vehicle and a non-profit? But... these guys care for us!

hellbannedguy 5y ago
1. His 501c3 gives back less than 1% back to the USA. 2. Personally, I feel like most nonprofits are shady, especially the rich boy tax dodging ones. 3. I have paid a tax on every pc I bought over the years because of him. Will never understand his fans.
oh_sigh 5y ago
Because a non-profit in the US just means that they can't distribute profits to the shareholders, not that they can't try to make money. They just need to use their profits to further their mission instead of distributing to shareholders. For example, the Gates Foundation could own a completely conventional farm, and run it like a conventional farm, but any profits they generate could be used to buy and deliver malaria pills to at-need countries (or something like that). That would be an acceptable reason a non-profit owns farmland.
- missedthecue 5y ago
  The giant German conglomerate Bosch is structured in a similar way. 92% of the company is owned by the Bosch family charitable foundation 'Robert Bosch Stiftung'
- blitzar 5y ago
  any profits they generate could be used to buy more farms to make more profits to buy more farms with
- verisimi 5y ago
  sure - it could buy malaria pills, or it could just buy more farms.

dillondoyle 5y ago

I think in the US there are also a good tax breaks for creating 'farms' on your land. Since we give so much subsidy to the industry. IIRC lot of billionaires will get sheep grazing or something like that to claim their mega mansions as farms. I thought I remember Marc Cuban is an example but can't find a quick source. So maybe my memory is wrong on this one.

20211215throw 5y ago
Here in NJ a typical middle class house pays 10-25k/yr in property taxes. But if you have 5 acres and sell a few thousand dollars worth of pumpkins you pay near zero because you're a farm. https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/09/how-to-cut-your-property-taxes-in-nj-start-a-farm.html https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/09/how-to-cut-your-property...