Tim Sweeney, the man behind Epic Games and Fortnite, is buying up thousands of acres in North Carolina. No, he's not looking to build a strip mall or a series of condos or even Fortnite Land. Instead, the billionaire is buying up land to protect it.
According to The News & Observer, Sweeney, who has a net worth of $5.7 billion, has been buying land in North Carolina since 2008. So far, he's purchased thousands of acres, making him one of the state's largest individual landowners. But his goal is to protect North Carolina and his wilderness. For instance, in 2016, he donated more than 7,000 acres to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In 2021, he also gave another 7,500 acres to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. That's not counting his multiple partnerships with conservation groups in the state to protect acres and acres of wilderness. In total, he owns somewhere around 54,000 acres.
Tim Sweeney Buys Up Thousands Of Acres
"What is unique about working with Tim Sweeney is he could purchase a tract and possibly wait two or three years for the state to buy it," said George Norris of the NC Parks Division, to the outlet. "He has enabled us to purchase things that we would not have had the money for in the short-term, which most sellers demand."
Sweeney started buying up the land after the housing market bubble crashed. He's changed his approach over the years.
"Most of my big conservation land purchasing breakthroughs came when the economy was in poor shape and land was prudently priced," he told the outlet. "Since 2021, the economy has been stronger, land has become more expensive, and my focus has moved to getting large blocks of contiguous conservation lands I've acquired since 2009 into permanent conservation."
Sweeney has been selling his land at a discounted rate to try to help conservation efforts in the state.
"In some places, long-time local families wanted land adjoining theirs for expansion and I've accommodated that wherever it was compatible with conserving key natural habitat," he said. "And in a few places, conservation plans didn't work out and I sold stranded tracts of land to local folks."
