Tim Sweeney, the billionaire who created Epic Games and Fortnite, has been buying up huge amounts of land in North Carolina. But he’s not building on it or selling it for profit. Instead, he’s protecting it from being destroyed by developers. Over the last ten years, he’s bought more than 40,000 acres of forests and wilderness.
According to Daily Dot, Sweeney wants to save these natural areas before construction companies can get to them. He’s been doing this work quietly, without much attention from the media. His focus is on land that has important wildlife and plants that need protection.
He’s already given away 7,000 acres to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 7,500 acres to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy. This year, he worked with The Conservation Fund to help make Mount Mitchell State Park bigger by selling some land to North Carolina’s parks department. Right now, he owns 54,000 acres across 15 different counties in the state.
He‘s been doing this for over a decade
Sweeney has been smart about when he buys land. He often purchases property when the economy isn’t doing well and prices are lower. “Most of my big conservation land purchasing breakthroughs came when the economy was in poor shape and land was prudently priced,” Sweeney said.
He also pointed out that since 2021, land has gotten more expensive, so now he’s working on making sure the land he already bought stays protected forever.
He doesn’t just buy land and forget about it. Sweeney has tried to work with families who have lived in these areas for a long time.
“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.
He added that when his conservation plans didn’t work out in some spots, he sold those pieces of land to local people.
What Sweeney is doing is one of the biggest private conservation projects North Carolina has seen in recent years. He made his money from video games and technology, but now he’s using it to protect nature. The forests he’s saving won’t be cut down or turned into shopping centers or housing developments. They’ll stay wild for animals and for people in the future.
His work shows what can happen when someone with a lot of money decides to use it for protecting the environment. This matters especially when public funding for conservation isn’t always enough. By teaming up with government groups and conservation organizations, Sweeney has found a way to save large areas of wilderness before they’re gone for good.
Published: Nov 17, 2025 11:09 am