Billionaire behind ‘Fortnite’ invests millions in N.C. forest conservation

Tim Sweeney is best known as a game developer, but he’s also made a name from himself as one of North Carolina’s largest landowners. (Photo: Official GDC/Flickr) Back in November 2008, the wild beauty of a 1,500-acre parcel of undisturbed North Carolina wilderness known as Stonehill Pines appeared headed for oblivion. Developers were eyeing the dense stands of pine and oak nestled off Interstate 74 to be repurposed as a world-class, mixed-use golf resort community featuring 1,050 homes and up to 90,000 square feet of retail and office space. When the full force of the financial recession hit, those plans were shelved and the property went back on the open market. Instead of falling into the hands of another developer, an unlikely savior who has made billions turning others into virtual heroes, swooped in to save the day. "I bought this land because it has a nice longleaf pine forest and was available for a reasonable price," famed game developer Tim Sweeney said in a 2018 interview with The Pilot, a community newspaper in North Carolina. "I’ll be holding it until I find a permanent nature conservation home for it, which will take years or decades." A ‘land grab’ […]

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