# 233 Dan Cathy $8.72B

Cathy's fortune is derived from his co-ownership of Chick-fil-A, an Atlanta-based fast food chain. The company has more than 2,600 restaurants, according to its website. It reported revenue of $5.8 billion in 2021, according to its franchise disclosure document.

Chick-fil-A is valued using the average enterprise value to-Ebitda multiple of three publicly traded peer companies: Wendy's, Jack In The Box and Yum! Brands. The financial results used in the analysis were updated on June 29, 2022 and this led to an increase in the calculation of about $1 billion.

The closely held company is family owned, according to its website. Bloomberg News reported in 2012 that Dan, Bubba and their father Truett, who has since died, each owned one-third of the business. This analysis assumes that Dan and Bubba continue to own one-third each based on their continuing executive control of the company.

Carrie Kurlander, a spokesperson for Chick-fil-A, said that company stock is owned by multiple family members and declined to comment further.

Dan Cathy was born on March 1, 1953. The oldest of Samuel Truett Cathy's three children, he grew up helping at his family's restaurant business, including filling ketchup bottles as a child. He joined the company full-time in 1970.

After working a series of jobs Cathy took over as president of chain in June 2001. He was named chairman and chief executive in 2013.

A Christian, Cathy has continued the tradition begun by his father and keeps Chick-fil-A stores closed on Sundays. In 2012, his views on gay marriage attracted controversy. In a report in the Baptist Press he said: "We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit."

Cathy is a trumpet player, motorcycle enthusiast and bible studies teacher, according to the company's website. He lives on a farm, south of Atlanta.