Bill Gates is making notable changes to his real estate portfolio surrounding his well-known $132 million Xanadu 2.0 mansion located in Medina, just outside Seattle. Gates has recently put a $4.8 million property up for sale—a four-bedroom, three-bath home nestled on one of Medina’s prized hillsides. This property was purchased for $1 million back in 1995, according to records reviewed by Fortune.
This decision marks a shift from Gates’ statements made just a year prior, where he firmly declared that he had no intention of downsizing his living situation. He described his Seattle residence as “gigantic” and noted that he cherished his homes, partly for the memories they hold for his children. “I don’t cook, I don’t make my own bed, but I don’t mind if no one has made it—I wouldn’t notice,” he mentioned in a 2025 interview.
The home for sale is positioned next to his primary living space—Xanadu 2.0, a massive 66,000-square-foot mansion which was appraised at $132 million in 2025. The recently listed property spans 2,800 square feet and was purchased shortly after his marriage to Melinda French Gates in 1994. Since their divorce in 2021, Melinda has expressed her views on their past relationship, particularly highlighting Gates’ associations, including his connections with Jeffrey Epstein, as contributors to their marital difficulties. Recently, in an NPR interview, she stated, “Whatever questions remain there … for those people, and for even my ex-husband, they need to answer to those things, not me.”
Over the years, Gates has amassed significant real estate in the exclusive Medina neighborhood, acquiring not only the Xanadu main residence but also surrounding wooded areas and smaller homes that offer a measure of privacy along Lake Washington. He initially bought Xanadu’s land back in 1988 for $2 million and has since invested around $63 million into its development. The mansion, completed over a lengthy seven-year period, is noted for its extravagant features, including 24 bathrooms, seven bedrooms, multiple garages, an indoor pool, a theater, and a trampoline room.
In addition to his extensive property holdings in Medina, Gates controls a vast array of real estate and land extending across the U.S. Entities connected to him command approximately 275,000 acres across at least 17 states, making him one of the largest private farmland owners in the nation. While his agricultural interests span diverse operations from corn and soy fields in the Midwest to potato farms in the Pacific Northwest, Gates has emphasized that he holds “less than 1/4000 of the farmland in the U.S.” His farming investments aim to enhance productivity and create job opportunities, managed through his Cascade Investment entity.
On the residential front, Gates’ real estate portfolio includes not only his Medina properties but also an opulent $43 million oceanfront mansion in Del Mar, California, an $18 million equestrian estate in Rancho Santa Fe, and significant properties in Wellington, Florida. Cumulatively, these properties are valued at nearly $300 million, excluding agricultural and commercial real estate ventures linked to his clean energy initiatives.
Although the listing of the smaller property appears to be a minor refinement of his holdings rather than a complete exit from the Medina area, it symbolizes a tangible connection to his past marriage, especially given the timing alongside a substantial donation of $8 billion to Melinda’s Pivotal Philanthropies as part of their divorce settlement.
