Reyes is co-founder of Reyes Holdings, a closely held food service and beverage distributor with revenue of more than $30 billion in 2019. 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.
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Reyes' fortune is derived from his stake in Chicago-based food and beverage company Reyes Holdings. Divisions of the closely held business include foodservice company Martin Brower and beer supplier Reyes Beverage Group. The group doesn't disclose financial results. It had revenue of more than $30 billion in 2019, according to a December 2019 press release.
Revenue of about $4.5 billion for Reyes Beverage Group was calculated by multiplying the more than 225 million cases distributed by the unit -- 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 about $500 million in 2019 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.
Revenue of about $30 billion for the remaining divisions was estimated after subtracting the derived revenue for the beverage group from a group revenue figure of $33 billion that was disclosed in a September 2019 press release. These units are valued using 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.