The Two Giants of Net Lease REITs: A Tale of Two Investment Paths
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To the untrained observer, a net lease REIT is but a business that acquires properties, leases them to tenants, and collects rent. Yet in this simple-sounding transaction, a profound mechanism is at work-one that intertwines risk, capital, and long-term stability. Realty Income, the largest among its peers, boasts a market cap more than three times that of its nearest contender, W.P. Carey (WPC). Its empire, which spans over 16,600 properties, dwarfs W.P. Carey’s relatively modest collection of 1,600. The grandeur of its scale allows for easy access to capital markets, an advantage that others, in their smaller forms, might not share.






