Nebraska Lesson: Don’t Bother Bidding Against Ted Turner

<p> </p><div style="text-align: center"><img src="/files/u2/TedTurner.jpg" title="ted turner" alt="ted turner" height="94" hspace="4" vspace="4" width="125" /></div>What's Ted Turner up to?<p>The billionaire has recently bought even more of Nebraska, 26,300 acres at auction for nearly $10 million. He's now the largest private landowner in the country, owning parcels in 11 states. What are the theories for why Turner is cornering property in the Great Plains? The <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/02/ted_turners_land_purchases_raise_ranchers_suspicions?mode=PF" target="_blank">AP reports</a> that some think Turner is buying land over the Ogallala Aquifer, a power grab through the water supply. Or, he's teaming up with the black helicopter boys and plans to turn over his land to the United Nations.<br /><br />Turner said he's rancher. (He's got 45,000 buffalo and buffalo-serving restaurants. See above.) But others worry that Turner is bidding up land prices and increasing the <a href="/letter-langdon-know-source-food-and-news" target="_blank">rapid consolidation of land </a> in the West, making it tough for young people to get into the business. </p>