Who Owns Texas? Meet 6 of the Largest Landowners

They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and when it comes to land, that’s no tall tale. The Lone Star State is the second-largest state in the U.S., covering a jaw-dropping 268,596 square miles. That’s a whole lot of cattle, cactus, and wide open skies.

Despite all that open land, Texas is also home to four of the nation’s ten largest cities—Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin. But beyond the bright lights and booming metros lies something even bigger: land ownership.

According to A-Z-Animals.com, roughly 95% of Texas is privately owned—the highest percentage of private land ownership in the country. So, who exactly owns all that property?

Let’s take a look at six of the biggest landowners in Texas and the massive empires they’ve built.

1. The Kleberg Family  - 825,000 acres
The legendary King Ranch was founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis. Still family-owned after more than 170 years, the ranch is so massive it spans four counties (Kleberg, Kenedy, Brooks, and Willacy) and is actually bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island. Based in Kingsville, the King Ranch remains a Texas icon of agriculture, cattle, and tradition.

2.  The Briscoe Family - 640,000 acres
Rooted in Uvalde County, the Briscoe family has built a powerful ranching legacy. The late Dolph Briscoe Jr., who served as Governor of Texas from 1973–1979, helped grow the family’s cattle operations into a diversified empire that spans ranching, oil and gas, and real estate. Their land is managed under Briscoe Ranch, Inc.

3.  The O’Connor Family - 587,000 acres
Irish immigrant Thomas O’Connor began his Texas journey in 1834 with a land grant in Goliad County. Over the generations, the family accumulated hundreds of thousands of acres and built one of the most respected ranching and land stewardship operations in the state. They also maintain interests in oil, gas, and environmental preservation.

4. The Wilks Brothers - 350,000 acres
Dan and Farris Wilks, the sons of a bricklayer from Cisco, Texas, struck it big in the hydraulic fracturing industry with their company Frac Tech. Since then, they’ve invested their fortune in ranch land, agriculture, and conservation. Their story is a modern Texas tale of grit, success, and land ownership on a massive scale.

5️. The Reynolds Family - 250,000 acres
Operating a sprawling ranch near Fort Griffin, the Reynolds family manages over 250,000 acres with a strong focus on wildlife conservation and cattle ranching. Like many of Texas’ top landowners, they also have investments in oil and gas and continue to preserve the ranching traditions of the Lone Star State.

️6. The Faskan Family - 227,000 acres
Canadian businessman David Fasken purchased 220,000 acres in Midland, Texas, back in 1913—and struck oil, literally. Today, the Fasken Oil and Ranch empire stretches over 227,000 acres, with operations spanning energy production, ranching, and agriculture. They remain one of the wealthiest landowning families in America.

So next time you drive through endless Texas highway, just remember: a big chunk of that land probably belongs to one of these families.