CEO buys nearly 2,000 acres

Just more than six months after purchasing a private island for $14.5 million, Manatee County entrepreneur Mark Pentecost has bought more land.

Pentecost purchased 1,955 acres of agricultural land for more than $6.8 million in a deal that closed Jan. 15, according to Manatee County records. The property is at 10280 Curtis Road, Myakka City, records show.

Pentecost is the founder and CEO of Palmetto-based It Works Global, a multi-level marketing firm that had $538 million in sales in 2014. The firm sells a line of skincare and nutrition products. Pentecost, Entrepreneur of the Year in the Business Observer in 2013, moved the company from Grand Rapids, Mich. to Manatee County in 2011.

Pentecost bought Little Bokeelia Island last summer.