Historic Waggoner Ranch, Largest in US, Bought by Stan Kroenke

Historic Waggoner Ranch, Largest in US, Bought by Stan Kroenke
St. Louis Rams Owner Stan Kroenke in a January 2012 file photo, may be considering turning the Rams into the Los Angeles Rams. Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images
The Associated Press
Updated:

VERNON, Texas—A billionaire sports mogul has purchased a Texas mega-ranch that has been operated by one family for nearly a century.

The heirs of cattle baron W.T. Waggoner said Tuesday that a judge permitted the sale to Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke for an undisclosed sum. The ranch had been listed for $725 million when it hit the market in August 2014.

The Waggoner Ranch is about 175 miles northwest of Dallas. It’s the largest behind one fence in the United States.

Kroenke said in a statement that he would “protect and preserve” what broker Bernie Uechtritz called the “Statue of Liberty” of cowboy culture.

Waggoner granddaughter Electra Waggoner Biggs filed a lawsuit in 1991 to liquidate the estate, setting off a decades-long courtroom battle among the heirs.