Kentucky’s Largest Landowner Controls a Ridiculous 500,000 Acres

He makes his own bourbon, drives a Ford truck, is a native Kentuckian and farmer’s son, and owns hundreds of thousands more private land in the Bluegrass State than anyone else. His influence doesn’t stop at the borders of his home state, however. In its report of the “100 Largest Landowners in the U.S.,” the Land Report named Brad Kelley not only the largest landowner in Kentucky but the ninth-largest in the entire nation.

Who Is Brad Kelley?

The Wall Street Journal calls Kelley the “Man with a Million Acres.” The New York Times calls him the 258th-richest man in America. According to Forbes, Kelley is worth $2.7 billion and owns 1.5 million acres from Hawaii to Florida. He is the 1,187th richest person in the world. This self-made billionaire made his fortune on tobacco, building Commonwealth Brands, the maker of USA Gold and Malibu cigarettes, which he sold in 2001 for $1 billion.

Personal Life

Born in Bowling Green, KY, in 1956, Kelley grew up on a farm in Simpson County, KY. He bought his first piece of land at 17 and dropped out of college to pursue his business interests. He is married with three children and rarely does interviews. Kentucky’s largest landowner doesn’t develop the land he buys and supports various conservation and wildlife interests.

When the Wall Street Journal asked him about his acumen for buying land, he credited his upbringing.

“I grew up on a farm and that’s about as good an explanation as there is,” he told the journal. “Land is something I know. It’s something I have an affinity for. It becomes part of your DNA.”

Investments

Since selling Commonwealth Brands, Kelley has invested his money in out-of-the-way land he thinks is undervalued. He recently sold more than 50,000 acres in New Mexico listed for $96 million. In west Texas, the 67-year-old Kentucky native had 600,000-plus acres going for more than $400 million. Kelly also sold travel guide Lonely Planet in 2020, which he bought seven years earlier from the BBC for $75 million.

Horseracing

In Kentucky, Kelley purchased the historic stud farm Calumet in 2012. In 2013, the businessman’s colt Oxbow won the Preakness Stakes. Calumet had three starters in the 2017 Kentucky Derby. Kelley was formerly the largest shareholder and a board member in Churchill Downs, the horseracing complex in Louisville, KY, famous for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. Another of Kelley’s horses, English Channel, has sired offspring that have accumulated more than $57 million in prize money.