There is a tier of American business that almost never shows up in stock-market headlines — companies bigger than most S&P 500 members but completely absent from any ticker. These are the country’s largest privately-held companies, and several of them generate more revenue than household names like Target or Boeing. They stay private for a reason: no quarterly-earnings pressure, no proxy fights, no public scrutiny of pay packages. I’ve ranked the ten largest by reported 2025 annual revenue, using Forbes’ Largest Private Companies list and each firm’s own disclosed financials where available.
How we built this list
Ranking is by reported full-year 2025 revenue. I’m including only companies that are either majority-controlled by founders, families, employee trusts, or partnerships — not portfolio holdings of public conglomerates. Cooperatives (member-owned, like Wakefern) are included; companies majority-held by private-equity funds (which have a clear LP exit horizon) are noted but generally ranked lower in this list because their ‘private’ status is essentially temporary.
The Top 10
1. Cargill — $177 billion revenue
Cargill is the largest privately-held company in America by a meaningful margin. Headquartered in Minneapolis, the food and agriculture conglomerate processes commodities, runs feed and protein businesses, and trades grain at global scale. The Cargill-MacMillan family controls roughly 90% of the company across 14 surviving heirs, all of whom are individually billionaires — making it the family with the most billionaire heirs of any in the United States.
2. Koch Industries — $125 billion revenue
Based in Wichita, Kansas, Koch is a diversified conglomerate spanning refining, chemicals, pulp and paper (Georgia-Pacific is a subsidiary), commodities trading, fertilizers, and a growing investments arm. After David Koch’s death in 2019, Charles Koch holds the dominant ownership stake along with his family. The company has been one of the most politically active private firms in America for over four decades.
3. Mars, Incorporated — $50 billion revenue
Best known for the chocolate brands (M&Ms, Snickers, Twix), Mars also owns the world’s largest pet-care business — including Royal Canin and the Banfield/VCA hospital chains — plus Wrigley gum. The company is owned by three siblings: Jacqueline Mars, John Mars, and the late Forrest Mars Jr.’s children. They are famously private and rarely give interviews.
4. Publix Super Markets — $59 billion revenue
Florida-headquartered Publix is the largest employee-owned company in the United States. Founded in 1930 by George Jenkins, it operates over 1,400 grocery stores across the Southeast. Roughly 80% of the company is owned by current and former employees through an ESOP and similar plans — the rest is held by the Jenkins family and the board.
5. Bechtel — $20 billion revenue
The fifth-generation family-owned engineering and construction giant is responsible for some of the largest infrastructure projects in modern American history — the Hoover Dam, the Channel Tunnel, the Big Dig, and most recently major liquified-natural-gas export terminals and nuclear-power-plant work. The Bechtel family has owned the firm since 1898 and has resisted every offer to take it public.
6. Albertsons — $80 billion revenue (held under Cerberus/PE)
Albertsons is the second-largest US grocer after Kroger. It’s been majority-controlled by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital and a consortium since 2006. A proposed $24.6B merger with Kroger was blocked by the FTC in late 2024; as of 2026, Cerberus is reportedly exploring a fresh IPO. Included here because the holding remains private as of writing.
7. Reyes Holdings — $43 billion revenue
Reyes is the largest distributor of beer in the United States and one of the largest McDonald’s franchise food-supply operators. Founded by brothers J. Christopher Reyes and M. Jude Reyes, the family-owned business operates through three divisions and remains tightly held by the Reyes family in Rosemont, Illinois.
8. Pilot Travel Centers — $50 billion revenue
Pilot Flying J operates over 800 travel centers across the US and Canada. After Berkshire Hathaway acquired the remaining minority stake from the Haslam family in 2024, Pilot is now wholly owned by Berkshire — which makes it technically a Berkshire subsidiary. I’ve kept it on this list because it remains privately operated and is not separately traded.
9. Love’s Travel Stops — $32 billion revenue
The Love family of Oklahoma City runs the second-largest US travel-center chain after Pilot. With over 650 locations, Love’s is still entirely family-owned and run day-to-day by Greg Love and Frank Love, two of founder Tom Love’s children. The family has consistently resisted private-equity overtures.
10. C.H. Robinson — public, so excluded; replacement: Hearst Communications — ~$12 billion revenue
Hearst is the privately-held media empire founded by William Randolph Hearst in 1887 and still controlled by the Hearst family trust. The portfolio includes Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, the A&E and ESPN equity stakes (jointly with Disney), Fitch Ratings, and 33 daily newspapers. Hearst remains one of the largest privately-owned media holdings on earth.
At-a-glance comparison
| Rank | Company | Revenue (2025) | Primary Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cargill | $177B | Cargill-MacMillan family |
| 2 | Koch Industries | $125B | Koch family |
| 3 | Albertsons | $80B | Cerberus Capital + consortium |
| 4 | Publix Super Markets | $59B | Employees + Jenkins family |
| 5 | Pilot Travel Centers | $50B | Berkshire Hathaway |
| 6 | Mars, Incorporated | $50B | Mars family |
| 7 | Reyes Holdings | $43B | Reyes brothers |
| 8 | Love’s Travel Stops | $32B | Love family |
| 9 | Bechtel | $20B | Bechtel family |
| 10 | Hearst Communications | $12B | Hearst family trust |
My take
The pattern is hard to miss — most of America’s largest private companies stay private because their founding families want to keep it that way. Cargill, Koch, Mars, Bechtel, Love’s, Hearst all trace back to a single founder or pair of founders, and the families have either resisted every IPO suggestion or created governance structures that make a sale extraordinarily difficult. The exceptions on this list (Albertsons and Pilot) are interesting because they show the other path: a private-equity backstop or a Berkshire-style permanent buyer. What I find most underrated is Publix — proof that an employee-owned model can run at $59 billion of annual revenue without taking a dollar of outside capital.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the largest privately-held company in America?
Cargill is the largest privately-held company in the United States, reporting roughly $177 billion in revenue for 2025. The Cargill-MacMillan family has controlled the agricultural and commodities trading giant for more than 150 years and currently holds approximately 90% of the equity across 14 family members.
Why do these companies stay private?
Most stay private because the founding families want full control over decision-making and financial disclosure. Private status removes pressure from quarterly earnings calls, allows long-term capital allocation, and keeps executive pay and ownership structure out of public filings. For families like the Mars and Bechtel households, privacy itself is a deliberate generational strategy.
Is Publix really owned by its employees?
Yes — Publix is the largest employee-owned company in the United States. Approximately 80% of the supermarket chain’s shares are held by current and former employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and a related profit-sharing trust. The remaining ~20% is held by the Jenkins family and board members.
Are these companies bigger than public companies?
Several of them rival or exceed mid-cap public companies in revenue. Cargill’s $177B revenue would put it inside the top 25 of the Fortune 500 if it were publicly listed. Koch Industries at $125B would also rank inside the top 50. The difference is they choose not to disclose detailed financial filings publicly.
Where do you get revenue numbers if these companies don’t file with the SEC?
Annual revenue figures come from each company’s own voluntary disclosures, Forbes’ Largest Private Companies list (which estimates and audits these figures annually), and reporting by trade publications and financial press. Cooperative and employee-owned companies often disclose more than family-owned ones for governance reasons.