You might need to fire up the theme to the TV show Dallas while you read this article. Tom Waggoner didn’t have an easy time running his spread. Every time his ranch hands dug a well to bring water to his cattle, they’d find oil instead. That’s the kind of problem we should all have. But that was 100 years ago. Now Waggoner’s descendants are selling the Texas ranch that comprises over a half-million acres.
FOR SALE: Largest ranch in the U.S. within a single fence. Texas fixer-upper with more than 1,000 oil wells; 6,800 head of cattle; 500 quarter horses; 30,000 acres of cropland; tombstones for legendary cowboys, long-dead dogs, and a horse buried standing up. Favorite of Will Rogers and Teddy Roosevelt. Colorful history of drinking and divorce. Fifteen-minute drive to rib-eyes at the Rusty Spur in Vernon. Ideal for Saudi oil sheiks, billionaire hedge funders, and dot-commers who can tell a cow from a steer. Profitable. Zero debt. Property taxes only $800,000 a year. Price: $725 million.
That blurb doesn’t begin to describe what’s involved in this real estate offer. Not that any of us have that kind of money available, but you can read the history of the ranch, its many other features, and the years of wheeling and dealing that went into the decision to sell it, at Bloomberg Business.