When you hear the word "farmer", usually it reminds you of a person who spends time in the field while trying to grow best crops...
But, in the landscape of modern agriculture, new technology enables the development of successful farms in the world of business. There are farmers who have achieved great success in this field. Their achievements were so good that they now rank among the richest people in the world. However, they do not spend time in fields, but are constantly in the office managing their wealth. This time, we bring you eight richest.
8. Howard Buffett
This man is active in numerous fields, from business and politics to agriculture, conservation and photos. He is the middle son of billionaire Warren Buffett. After leaving three colleges, Howard decided to become a farmer and grows corn and soybeans. He now oversees a large family farm in Illinois and several farms in Nebraska, along with his son. In addition, he oversees three experimental farms in Arizona, Illinois and South Africa. He is particularly proud of the fact that his farm is maintained without the help of the family fortune, because he’s worth about $ 200 million.
7. Colin and Dale Armer
Armer family are the richest people of New Zealand, thanks to their successful dairy farm. They possess Dairy Holdings, a famous New Zealand conglomerate, estimated at about 535 million dollars. Colin and Dale started their business as a family company in the nineties, and now their group owns and operates with over 58 farms.
6. Toni Perich
Toni Perich and his brother inherited the farm from their parents, who had founded it in 1951, with 25 cows for milking. Today, on this farm there are more than 2,000 cows, and he has stations in several locations in Australia. Tony Perich value is estimated at about 750 million dollars.
5. Blairo Magi
We can say that Blairo Magi has farming in his blood, as the son of Andrea Magi, who founded the Andre Maggi Group, and is the largest private soy producer in the world. The group had sales of $ 3 billion in 2012, which secured Blairo a place on the list of the richest people in the world. Andre Maggi Group is operated by Andre's wife, Lucia, but Blairo has more than 16% of the group. In addition, Blairo is senator of the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil.
4. Harry Stine
In 2015, Harry Stine was named the richest man of Iowa, and he is actually the brains behind Stine Seed, successful genetic company. It has an estimated value of $ 3.6 billion. He grew up on a farm not far from Des Moines and started his own business during the sixties. Although suffering from dyslexia and autism, Stine was a genius when it comes to data and mathematics. His company is actually the largest private company engaged in seeds, and produces the most robust genetic soy.
3. Liu Yonghao
Liu Yonghao is one of China's richest men, with a fortune estimated at 4.1 billion dollars, which was built with the help of farm chickens and quail, which he founded with his brothers. He began his career as a teacher in a technical school and decided in 1982 to start a private business with his brothers. In order to raise money to fund these ideas, he and his brothers had sold their bikes and watches, and earned $ 120, which was also their starting capital. They have invested their money in the purchase of quails and chickens, which they then sold to farmers in rural Sichuan province. In 1992, their business, Hope Group, was one of the largest network of suppliers of feed and one of the largest non-government conglomerates in the country. In 1996, the brothers split their agricultural empire and Liu Yonghao changed the name of his company in New Hope Group.
2. Stuart and Linda Resnick
The largest part Resnick family fortune, which is estimated to 4.2 billion, comes from pistachios and almonds that are grown on their farm in California. Resnick family has invested more than $ 100 million in sustainable technologies, in order to adapt to harsh natural conditions that plagued California over the past few years. Their farm business started in late seventies, and today, the products of their companies are located in the homes of nearly half the population of America.
1. Liu Yongxing
Together with his brothers, Liu Yongxing founded the small chicken and quail farm in the eighties, and over the years, he has become one of China's richest men, with a fortune estimated at about $ 6.6 billion.
He formed East Hope Group in the early nineties, when he separated from his three brothers, and one of them we have already mentioned in this text. Each of the brothers launched their agricultural company. East Hope Group is engaged in agriculture, real estate and heavy industry. In the agricultural industry, they are focused on the production of animal feed, with over 100 species.
What is very interesting, although the people on this list are millionaires and billionaires who got rich on the basis of agriculture, none of them has the largest farm in the world. However, we must pay homage to them because they themselves have created their wealth (with a few exceptions), and had the courage to invest their money and time in the industry in which competition is very strong.
