Reyes is co-founder of Reyes Holdings, a closely held food service and beverage distributor with revenue of $33 billion in 2018. Its divisions include Martin Brower, which delivers beef, fries and other supplies to McDonald's; Reyes Beverage Group, an independent beer distributor and bottler Great Lakes Coca-Cola.
Chris Reyes's net worth of $7.05B can buy ...
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Reyes' fortune is derived from his stake in Chicago-based food and beverage company Reyes Holdings. The closely held business has three divisions: foodservice companies Martin Brower and Reinhart Food Service, and beer supplier Reyes Beverage Group. The group doesn't disclose financial results. It had revenue of more than $33 billion in 2018, according to a September 2019 press release.
Revenue of $3.6 billion for Reyes Beverage Group was calculated by multiplying the 174 million cases distributed by the unit in 2018 -- as reported by the company -- by the division's per-case revenue in 2011, according to industry publication Beverage World. The unit's operating profits are calculated to be $385 million in 2018 based on an assumed profit-per-case of $2.25 and it is valued using a transaction value multiple of 12.5 times these profits, according to discussions with beer industry consultants. Reyes is the largest independent beer distributor in the U.S., according to the experts.
The two foodservice divisions are valued together. Revenue of about $30 billion was calculated by subtracting the derived revenue for the beverage group from the $33 billion of consolidated revenue Reyes Holdings had in 2018. They're measured against the average enterprise value-to-sales of three publicly traded peers: Core-Mark Holding, Performance Food Group and Sysco.
Reyes Holdings has $3 billion of debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It's allocated between Reyes Beverage and the food service units based on the percentage of total revenue each represents.
The company doesn't disclose ownership information and the stake credited to the billionaire reflects his role as co-founder. His brother Jude, the other co-founder, is credited with the other half.
Reyes declined to comment on his net worth, according to spokeswoman Meredith Simpson on behalf of Reyes Holdings.
J. Christopher Reyes, the son of an electrical engineer, was born in 1954 in Washington D.C. He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland. He and his brother Jude have been co-chairmen of closely-held food and beer distributor Reyes Holdings since 1998.
Reyes Holdings includes Martin-Brower, which supplies McDonald's, Reyes Beverage Group, the largest beer distributor in the U.S., and Reinhart Food Service.
Christopher Reyes is also a member of the board of trustees of the University of Notre Dame and of Ronald McDonald House charities, and chairman of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
He lives with his wife and their four children in Lake Forest, Illinois.