A Chinese entrepreneur who amassed his wealth through online gaming has emerged as a notable foreign landowner in the United States.
Chen Tianqiao, aged 50, owns 198,000 acres (80,127 hectares) of Oregon timberland, ranking him as the 82nd-largest property owner in the country according to the latest Land Report.
Acquiring the land from Fidelity National Financial Ventures for $85 million in 2015, Chen’s ownership of this vast Oregon property distinguishes him as one of the most significant individual non-U.S. landowners, second only to Canada’s Irving family.
The issue of foreign ownership of U.S. land, especially for agricultural purposes, has become politically sensitive. As of 2021, non-U.S. entities, including those from China, owned around 40 million acres of American agricultural land. Lawmakers have attempted to enact restrictions on foreign investment in U.S. agricultural property, with a Senate vote in July 2023 proposing a ban on the sale of farmland beyond a specified acreage or value to entities from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
However, this measure did not ultimately become law. Chen Tianqiao, originally from Zhejiang province, founded Shanda Interactive, an online gaming company, in 1999. His investments, spanning public and private equities, venture capital, and real estate, reflect a diverse portfolio. In 2016, he and his wife, Chrissy Luo, donated $115 million to establish the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at the California Institute of Technology.
With ultra-wealthy investors in the U.S. increasingly seeking inflation hedges, farmland has become an attractive option for its perceived value and potential returns. The average value of U.S. cropland saw an 8.1% increase in 2023, rising more than a third since 2020, driven by factors such as food demand, high inflation, and interest in unique properties with recreational and investment potential.
Notably, the largest landowners in the U.S. are the Emmerson family, proprietors of Sierra Pacific Industries, followed by billionaires John Malone, Ted Turner, and Stan Kroenke.
