Sporting Deal of the Year:
Jake Paul Scores a Record Takedown
Sporting Deal of the Year:
Jake Paul Scores a Record Takedown
By Lisa Martin
Photography By Gustav Schmiege III
LR_JakePaul_DoY-01-1
GEORGIA BOY. Depending on the tailwinds, Paul Reserve is a two-to three-hour flight from the influencer’s Puerto Rico residence.
Can the ultimate influencer intro-duce Gen Z and Gen Alpha to rural landownership? As evidence, we present Jake Paul’s YouTube channel devoted to Paul Reserve, the Land Report 2025 Sporting Deal of the Year.
Key Takeaways: The Southlands Sale
- A New Face of Landownership
- Jake Paul’s acquisition of Southlands, now branded as Paul Reserve, positions him as an unconventional ambassador for rural landownership among younger audiences. Through YouTube and social media, he is showcasing hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation to millions of followers.
- Premier Sporting Property
- The 6,000-acre South Georgia property earned recognition as The Land Report’s 2025 Sporting Deal of the Year. With no public roads, no power lines, and no easements, Southlands is considered a rare, highly private sporting and recreational retreat.
- Conservation and Stewardship
- Paul has emphasized responsible land management, including planned reforestation of 400 acres of pine and the planting of 646 acres of longleaf pine. He has also supported regional conservation efforts with a $50,000 donation to Lake Seminole initiatives combating invasive species.
- Rich Ownership Legacy
- Originally assembled by conservationist Herbert Stoddard, Southlands served as a research and teaching forest before becoming part of International Paper’s timber empire. Later transformed into a sporting paradise under financier Jim Dahl, the property carries decades of ecological and recreational significance.
- Long-Term Vision for the Property
- Paul and his fiancée, Olympic speed skater Jutta Leerdam, plan to expand operations by adding livestock while preserving native wildlife populations. Their vision blends sporting use, agriculture, and stewardship, signaling a multi-use future for the ranch.
A video of a Jake-led hunting expedition on his 6,000-acre South Georgia sporting property has attracted more than 1.4 million views since it was posted in February.
On social media, the so-called “Problem Child” also chronicles himself fishing and wakeboarding on Lake Seminole and zipping around a 2-mile red-dirt track he put in on his prized property. “This place is just magical,” says the 29-year-old boxer and entrepreneur.
With help and guidance from his father, Greg, Paul intends to continue the distinguished legacy of superior land stewardship for the property, which also includes approximately 400 acres of pine trees slated for reforestation in 2026, along with approximately 646 acres of longleaf that were planted in 2025.
When International Paper (IP) acquired Southlands in the late 1950s, it became the crown jewel of the company’s 12-million-acre timber empire.
Initially assembled by conservationist Herbert Stoddard (1889-1970), Southlands became a research and teaching forest where loblolly pine, sweet gum, and sycamore thrived alongside longleaf pine.
In 2010, financier Jim Dahl paid $200 million for Southlands and more than 100,000 acres of timberland. Dahl and his right-hand man, Walter Hatchett — who would broker the sale of Southlands to Jake Paul 15 years later — turned the tract into a sporting paradise.
“There are no public roads, no power lines on the property, and no easements,” says Hatchett, who lives across the road from the property with his wife, Phyllis. “You just don’t find a contiguous property of this quality in a setting like this.”
Paul quickly immersed himself in the rural community after announcing the deal.
“The people here are the best, and I feel right at home,” he says. Within months of buying the ranch, he became a Steward of Lake Seminole. His $50,000 donation will combat invasive species in the 37,500-acre man-made reservoir.
In between his on-camera antics, he’s tackling a new project: the transatlantic move of his fiancée, Jutta Leerdam. The timing follows the Dutch speed skater’s gold medal run at the Winter Olympics in February.
The couple plans to bring livestock to Paul Reserve alongside native populations of the whitetailed deer and wild turkey, plus the occasional trespassing feral hog.
Southlands
Georgia
SELLER
Southlands Plantation GA LLC
SELLER’S BROKERS
Walter Hatchett • Jon Kohler Jon Kohler & Associates
BUYER
Paul Reserve LLC
