Forbes_USA_June_13_2017

LeaderBoard
NEW BILLIONAIRE
Burger Queen
Lynsi Snyder has expanded In-N-Out
while keeping the cult hamburger
chain’s storied ingredients.
IT WAS A WHOPPER of a 35th birthday for burgerchain
heiress Lynsi Snyder. On May 5, she received
the final portion of her inheritance, increasing her
ownership of the West Coast In-N-Out restaurant
empire to 97% and making her a billionaire. She has
received stakes for the past decade, a slow investiture
process laid out in a complex trust by her grandparents,
company founders Harry and Esther Snyder.
Harry and Esther opened their first drive-through
burger stand in California in 1948. Their sons, Richard
and Guy, each took a turn running In-N-Out,
but both died young—Richard at 41 in a plane crash,
Guy at 48 from an accidental overdose. Esther ran it
after Guy’s 1999 death; Lynsi took over in 2010.
Lynsi has capitalized on In-N-Out’s cult following,
expanding its locations by 29% to more than 320,
while estimated annual revenue has climbed 57%
to about $870 million. But In-N-Out mostly hasn’t
changed since her grandmother’s day: It still doesn’t
franchise, and heat lamps, microwaves and freezers
remain strictly forbidden on the premises.
BY CHLOE SORVINO
PRISCILLA IEZZI/ORANGE COAST MAGAZINE
22 | FORBES JUNE 13, 2017