Texas’s largest largest landowners are historic, right? That’s a given. The great South Texas ranches were cobbled together in the 19th century from Spanish land grants dating back to the 1700s. For that matter, the Texas & Pacific Railway Company was chartered by Uncle Sam in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Who are Texas’s Largest Landowners Today?

But the big reveal of the Texas Ten is the number of leading landowners that acquired their properties since the turn of the century. Although their landholdings include some of the most storied brands in Texas history, five of the top 10 property portfolios were assembled in the past 25 years.

HOT TICKET. TPL is riding high on the endless supply of energy in the Permian Basin.

No. 1 Texas Pacific Land Corporation

873,000 Acres

The TEXAS AND PACIFIC RAILWAY COMPANY was chartered by the federal government in 1871 to build a transcontinental railroad. It went bankrupt in 1888, and the 3.5 million acres awarded to the company were placed in a trust. In 2021, the trust’s legacy assets were converted to a C corporation that focuses on land, water, and energy holdings in 19 Texas counties in the resource-rich Permian Basin. That strategy paid off in spades on November 26 when TPL replaced Marathon Oil on the S&P 500.

No. 2 King Ranch Heirs

836,000 Acres

The Birthplace of American Ranching has been the catalyst for numerous impressive achievements. The first breed of beef cattle ever developed in the US? King Ranch’s SANTA GERTRUDIS in 1940. The first (and only) Texas-bred Thoroughbred to win the Triple Crown? King Ranch’s ASSAULT in 1946. In 1941, the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) decided to bestow its P-1 registration on the grand champion of the stallion class at the Fort Worth Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show. That honor went to WIMPY, a double grandson of Old Sorrel, the foundation sire of King Ranch.

8 MILLION SEEDLINGS. The largest timberland owner in Texas has a non-stop planting program.

No. 3 Caddo Sustainable Timberlands

831,000 Acres

Formed in 2022 by BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group (TIG) and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), Caddo Sustainable Timberlands (CST) can trace its roots back to 1894 when T.L.L. Temple bought 7,000 acres of timberland and established Southern Pine Lumber Company. Today, CST ranks as the largest timberland owner in the Lone Star State and has an oversize footprint in East Texas (and West Louisiana). More than 30 mills in both states process timber harvested from its forests. Every acre in both states is certified by the rigorous standards of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

RAYBURN POND. House Speaker Sam Rayburn (center) hauled so many bass out of a stock pond on the Catarina Ranch that the Briscoes named it for him.

No. 4 The Briscoes

738,000 Acres

Uvalde serves as the operational headquarters for the Briscoe family’s extensive ranching interests. Dolph “Chip” Briscoe III oversees the family’s far-flung Texas landholdings, which have grown from their South Texas roots on the CATARINA RANCH west to the Trans-Pecos and north to the Rolling Plains. The Briscoes acquired the largest division of the historic MATADOR RANCH from Koch Industries in 2021. Located almost 100 miles northeast of Lubbock in Motley and Cottle Counties, the 41,077-acre Tee Pee City / Lucky Knob Division benefits from approximately 10 miles of the Middle Pease River.

TEXAS GENERAL LAND OFFICE BUYS BREWSTER RANCH. A five-year marketing campaign yielded a $164 million sale on October 24.

No. 5 Brad Kelley

586,000 Acres

James King and Harrison King of King Land & Water in Fort Davis spent five years marketing Kelley’s 353,785-acre BREWSTER RANCH in Far West Texas. The father-and-son team wore out two trucks touring potential buyers on the 552-square-mile Brewster County landholding, which sold to the Texas GLO. “As Texas Land Commissioner and the steward of more than 13 million acres of state land, I am proud to have acquired this beautiful property for the State of Texas,” said Commissioner DAWN BUCKINGHAM, MD. Listed for $245,678,330 ($695 per acre), the ranch sold for $164,600,000 ($465 per acre).

RANCH SECURITY. Dan Waggoner (1828–1902) devised the historic 3Ds brand to foil rustlers intent on thieving his Longhorns.

No. 6 Stan Kroenke

569,000 Acres

Since acquiring the historic WAGGONER RANCH in 2016, Kroenke Ranches has undertaken major initiatives on the largest ranch in Texas behind one fence. Chief among them has been to adopt a holistic approach to the ecological management of the 569,000-acre ranch’s significant wildlife resources. Land-management techniques currently being employed by the Wildlife Division are targeted specifically at quail and whitetailed deer habitats. Brush management has been performed on more than 150,000 acres to promote populations of native grasses and forbs and to enhance habitat diversity.

REUSABILITY. Each Blue Origin rocket features a vertical takeoff and landing architecture. This enables the reuse of the booster up to 25 times.

No. 7 Jeff Bezos

462,000 Acres

As a youngster, the founder and executive chairman of AMAZON lived in the Bayou City. Bezos spent several years in Houston as a student at River Oaks Elementary School. During his summer vacations, he roamed his grandparents’ ranch outside of Cotulla. He credits this experience for his love of wide-open spaces. Today, Bezos’s extensive ranchland holdings are concentrated in Far West Texas north of Van Horn in Culberson and Hudspeth Counties. Long known to local ranchers as the CORN RANCH, Blue Origin’s command center has been christened LS1 — Launch Site One — by Bezos and his team.

KENEDY PASTURE COMPANY. Now a museum, the historic ranch headquarters is located in Sarita, county seat of Kenedy County.

No. 8 Kenedy Ranch

425,000 Acres

A Pennsylvania Quaker by birth, MIFFLIN KENEDY (1818–1895) took a job as a clerk on a steamer as a teenager, worked his way up the ladder, and eventually became a steamboat captain and owner. Kenedy subsequently formed a legendary partnership with a fellow riverboat pilot, Richard King (see No. 2 King Ranch Heirs). The extensive Kenedy clan suffered from a curious malady: no heirs. The death of Sarita Kenedy East (1889–1961) precipitated an avalanche of legal wrangling. The great ranch is now owned by the John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation and the John G. Kenedy Jr. Charitable Trust.

TOM O’CONNOR FIELD. In 1934, Hugh Roy Cullen brought in one of the richest discoveries in Texas history.

No. 9 O’Connor Heirs

410,000 Acres

A native of County Wexford, Ireland, Thomas O’Connor (1817–1887) was lured to Texas in 1834 by an uncle with the promise of a league of land — 4,428 acres — from the REPUBLIC OF MEXICO. Not long after he landed on the Gulf Coast, the Irishman made a name for himself when he joined the fight for Texas independence. His 50-plus years in Texas were filled with epic adventures. On his deathbed, O’Connor owned more than 500,000 acres. He signed the Goliad Declaration of Independence, fought at the BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO, and skirmished with the Karankawas. His descendants engage in a variety of land-based enterprises.

SWENSON RANCH. In 2021, Smith acquired the Flat Top Division of the Swenson Ranch from the Swensons.

No. 10 Mike Smith

323,000 Acres

After graduating from Texas Tech, Mike Smith went to work for PAUL ENGLER at CACTUS FEEDERS in Amarillo. Engler was building his feed operation into the world’s largest. He proved to be an able mentor to Smith, who not only established his own feed yards but also launched a commodity-trading firm. One of Smith’s most notable acquisitions in recent years was the historic FLAT TOP DIVISION of the SWENSON RANCH (above), which was established by Swante Swenson. The first Swede to settle in the Lone Star State, Swenson’s SMS brand was a ubiquitous icon on the Texas frontier.