A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. Andrew and Peggy Cherng made their billions from food court stalwart Panda Express, which they founded in 1983. The Cherngs have since broadened beyond the chain’s iconic orange chicken, investing in the likes of Just Salad, Whataburger and Bojangles. It’s natural for entrepreneurs to gravitate to the industries that made them rich, but the Cherngs have diversified their fortune. In 2016, they hired two leveraged finance veterans to run the alternative investments arm of their family office, Cherng Family Trust. That unit is now a stand-alone firm, CFT Capital Partners, which still manages the Cherngs’ alternative assets and counts Fortnite parent Epic Games and hair-care brand Wella among its investments. CFT Capital Partners manages more than $3 billion in assets, closing a $781 million fund in August with the family office as its anchor investor. Cherng Family Trust is one of more than 100 family offices built on food and beverage fortunes, according to data provided exclusively to CNBC by Fintrx. This cohort manages at least $118 billion combined, per the private wealth intelligence platform. Here are five family offices born from household-name restaurant chains: Ruby Tuesday founder Sandy Beall takes a hands-on approach with his private investment firm. Beall sold the casual dining chain to Morrison Restaurants Inc. in 1982 for $15 million in cash and stock, and worked his way up to run the parent company. In 2012, he retired from Ruby Tuesday and set up Beall Investments. With few exceptions, such as an investment in sunscreen brand Supergoop, Beall Investments focuses on hospitality, backing growing restaurant chains like & pizza and Seamore’s. Beall also owns high-end resorts in east Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains and North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Nearly two years ago, he became majority owner of Windham Mountain Club in the Catskills region of New York. Across the pond, London-based Addition Capital has strayed far from its principal’s roots. Lord Rumi Verjee, a Ugandan-born British entrepreneur, made his fortune owning the franchising rights to Domino’s Pizza in the UK. He sold his Domino’s stake in 1989 and went on to invest in other ventures like professional soccer team Waterford FC and fine china brand Thomas Goode. Verjee’s son Jay founded Addition Capital in 2018 to manage the family’s direct investments. Addition focuses on small- and medium-sized B2B firms in the U.K. with an interest in health care, financial services and technology. The firm is building an online education company, having taken over a vocational training provider in 2021, renamed it Academy+, and acquired another online publisher in April. The Ilitch family behind Little Caesars has used the six-decade-old pizza chain’s returns to build an empire spanning professional sports and casinos. Through a subsidiary, North Lots Investments, the Ilitch Family Office invests in a wide range of assets including private and public markets as well as credit and real estate. Five years ago, the firm launched Tenda, its own insurance company, to provide health coverage, liability protection, and other types of insurance for family members, family office employees and Ilitch companies. Tenda has since opened its doors to third-party clients and other family offices. Chick-fil-A , perhaps the most prominent privately held fast-food chain, is owned by one of America’s richest families. Late patriarch S. Truett Cathy founded the fried chicken chain in 1967, enriching his descendants to the tune of $33.6 billion by Forbes’ estimate. The Cathy Family Office is housed within Chick-fil-A’s corporate office headquartered in Atlanta. The Cathys employ a “family services lead” to keep the family’s three generations connected. Beth Chapman, who holds a Ph.D. and master’s degree in organizational behavior and HR management, runs a family book club, compiles family and business news updates for the Cathys every two months, and practices communication skills with the family a few times a year with case studies and simulations, Chapman has said. “When it’s a family business, communication can be challenging because when you leave the business conversation, you’re still cousins, brothers and sisters,” she said in an interview with The Family Office Professional . “The biggest thing is practice.”
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Andrew and Peggy Cherng made their billions from food court stalwart Panda Express, which they founded in 1983.