Every week, tens of millions of Americans push a shopping cart through the aisles of a Kroger store — or one of the two dozen other supermarket banners that Kroger quietly operates across 35 states. You may know it as Ralphs in California, Fred Meyer in the Pacific Northwest, King Soopers in Colorado, or Harris Teeter in the Southeast. But behind all of those different names is one company — The Kroger Co. — and it is one of the most dramatic ownership and leadership stories in all of American retail right now.
A failed $24.6 billion merger. A CEO fired for an ethics violation. A brand-new chief executive poached from Walmart. And a Giant Eagle acquisition announced just days ago that signals Kroger is not done growing.
Here is the complete, current story of who owns Kroger in 2026.
What Is Kroger?
The Kroger Co. is an American retail company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, that operates supermarkets and multi-department stores across the United States. Kroger (NYSE: KR) is a publicly traded company owned primarily by institutional investors.
As of early 2026, Kroger operates nearly 2,800 stores across 35 states under two dozen banners including Ralphs, Fred Meyer, and King Soopers. The company employed more than 403,000 full- and part-time workers at the end of fiscal 2025 and reported trailing twelve-month revenue of $147.64 billion.
That revenue figure makes Kroger one of the largest companies in the United States by sales — a quiet retail titan that feeds more American families every day than almost any other company on earth.
Who Owns Kroger Right Now in 2026?
Kroger is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KR. No single individual, family, or private firm holds a controlling stake. Institutional investors collectively hold about 87.5% of Kroger’s outstanding shares as of early 2026.
The three biggest shareholders are names you have seen before — the same institutional giants that dominate the shareholder registries of nearly every major American public company.
The Vanguard Group is the largest shareholder at approximately 12.01%, holding 75.99 million shares valued at approximately $4.73 billion. Berkshire Hathaway holds 50 million shares representing approximately 7.9% of the company. BlackRock Institutional Trust holds approximately 5.79%, and Wellington Management holds approximately 5.27% after significantly adding to its position.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway as a top-three shareholder is a significant signal to the market. Berkshire is not a passive index fund — it is an active, conviction-based investor that only holds positions in companies it believes are genuinely undervalued and strategically sound. Buffett’s continued presence in Kroger is widely seen as a vote of confidence in the grocery giant’s long-term value.
Kroger Ownership and Key Stakeholders Table
| Shareholder | Type | Stake | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Vanguard Group | Largest Institutional Shareholder | ~12.01–12.6% of KR | Holds ~75.99 million shares valued at ~$4.73 billion |
| Berkshire Hathaway | Major Institutional Shareholder | ~7.9% of KR | Warren Buffett’s firm; holds ~50 million shares; position unchanged recently |
| BlackRock, Inc. | Institutional Shareholder | ~8–9.2% of KR | World’s largest asset manager; active position |
| Wellington Management | Institutional Shareholder | ~5.27% of KR | Added 12.65 million shares (+61%) — one of the biggest recent position increases |
| State Street Global Advisors | Institutional Shareholder | ~4.8–5.05% of KR | Manages SPDR ETFs; consistent long-term holder |
| Geode Capital Management | Institutional Shareholder | ~2.61% of KR | Passive quantitative fund; manages Fidelity index funds |
| Public / Retail Shareholders | Individual Investors | ~12.43% of KR | Anyone can buy KR stock on the NYSE |
| Insiders | Company Executives & Directors | ~2.18% of KR | Includes former CEO W. Rodney McMullen’s remaining shares |
| Greg Foran | Current CEO | Minimal insider stake | Appointed February 9, 2026; Kroger’s first-ever external CEO |
The Origin Story: $372 and a Dream in Cincinnati
The story of Kroger begins in 1883 with a young man, a small amount of savings, and an extraordinary amount of ambition.
Barney Kroger invested his life savings of $372 to open a single grocery store in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio in 1883. He bought out his initial partner by 1885 and expanded to four stores.
Barney Kroger grew up in Cincinnati and got his start in the food business early. His ambition was simple but bold — to give working-class families in Ohio access to fresh, quality food at fair prices. He achieved this by doing something almost no grocer of his era had done: he baked his own bread and processed his own meat on-site, cutting out the middlemen and passing the savings directly to customers.
By the early 1900s, Kroger had become one of the largest grocery chains in America. The company went public, grew through acquisitions, and spent the next century quietly becoming the backbone of American grocery shopping.
In 1999, Kroger consolidated its leadership position by merging with Fred Meyer, Inc. in a $13 billion deal, expanding its presence and diversifying its offerings. Today, Kroger operates under multiple well-known brands including Ralphs, Dillons, Smith’s, and Harris Teeter.
The Drama of 2024–2026: A Failed Merger, a Fired CEO, and a Fresh Start
The last two years at Kroger have been among the most turbulent in the company’s entire 143-year history — and understanding the current ownership story means understanding exactly what happened.
The $24.6 Billion Merger That Never Was
In October 2022, Kroger announced a landmark deal to acquire Albertsons Companies — its biggest grocery rival — for $24.6 billion. If approved, it would have been the largest supermarket merger in American history, creating a combined company with over 5,000 stores capable of seriously challenging Walmart’s grocery dominance.
It was never approved. After years of legal battles with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general, the merger was officially terminated in December 2024. This failure forced a radical rethink of the company’s trajectory.
Albertsons initially filed a lawsuit in December 2024 after the planned merger was blocked on antitrust grounds by federal and state authorities. Albertsons is seeking a $600 million termination fee and additional relief after spending “hundreds of millions of dollars” in pursuit of the merger.
The CEO Who Left Under a Cloud
Just as Kroger was absorbing the shock of the merger failure, another crisis hit. Almost a year ago, CEO Rodney McMullen resigned abruptly because of an undisclosed ethics violation related to his personal conduct. A number of other Kroger top executives have since left the company too, creating a leadership vacuum at an already difficult time.
W. Rodney McMullen had been with Kroger since 1978 — starting as a part-time warehouse employee in Lexington, Kentucky — and had served as CEO since 2014. His sudden departure left the company without its most experienced leader at precisely the moment it needed direction most.
The New CEO: Greg Foran
On February 9, 2026, The Kroger Co. announced its Board of Directors appointed Greg Foran as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Foran succeeded Ron Sargent, who had served as interim CEO since March 2025. This followed an extensive search process conducted by the Board.
Greg Foran is a New Zealand native who led Walmart’s U.S. business for six years, overseeing a turnaround of the company’s largest division. He delivered positive comparable sales growth for 20 consecutive quarters and managed more than 4,600 stores and one million associates. He most recently served as CEO of Air New Zealand.
Foran is Kroger’s first-ever external CEO — every previous chief executive had risen through the company’s own ranks. That fact alone signals how dramatically the board felt things needed to change.
The Giant Eagle Acquisition: Kroger’s Next Big Move
Just days ago, Kroger made headlines again — this time with a deal that signals the company is already moving forward aggressively under new leadership.
Kroger announced it is buying Giant Eagle, a well-run regional grocer with a strong reputation for fresh products, pharmacy, private label, and customer loyalty. CEO Greg Foran said: “Giant Eagle is a well-run, high-quality regional grocer. We evaluated the opportunity carefully, and the strategic fit is clear.” Kroger expects the deal to close in 2027.
This acquisition is Kroger’s direct answer to the failed Albertsons deal — instead of trying to make one enormous merger work under heavy regulatory scrutiny, the company is now targeting a smaller, strategically aligned regional grocer that serves a complementary customer base.
Warren Buffett’s Bet on Kroger
One of the most fascinating details in Kroger’s current ownership story is the continued presence of Berkshire Hathaway as one of its largest shareholders.
Berkshire Hathaway retained approximately 50 million shares — about 7.9% of Kroger — with the position unchanged in recent quarters, signaling continued value-oriented support for Kroger’s defensive grocery franchise.
Berkshire first built its Kroger position in 2019 under Warren Buffett’s direction. The investment reflects Buffett’s lifelong preference for consumer staples businesses — companies that sell things people need regardless of economic conditions. Groceries are as recession-proof as businesses get, and Kroger’s combination of store count, private-label brands, pharmacy operations, and loyalty data made it exactly the kind of “moat” business Buffett prizes most.
Kroger’s Store Brands: A Hidden Profit Engine
One aspect of Kroger’s business that most shoppers overlook is how profitable its private-label brands have become. Kroger runs one of the largest private-label grocery programs in America — products you see under names like Simple Truth, Private Selection, and Kroger Brand itself.
Interestingly, Kroger is the world’s largest florist, selling millions of floral arrangements annually. It also leads significant philanthropic initiatives. The scale of what Kroger does beyond just selling brand-name groceries — its pharmacy network, its fuel centers, its loyalty program with data on tens of millions of households — is what makes it uniquely valuable to investors like Berkshire Hathaway and Wellington Management.
What Greg Foran Is Doing to Turn Kroger Around
CEO Greg Foran has outlined an ambition to lift the quality of the shopping experience and open more stores. Next year’s target of 70 to 80 new locations would represent twice the pace of openings in 2026. He has also announced major price cuts to rival Walmart, acknowledging that consumers are “wary of what they’re seeing at the gas pump” and that affordability concerns could worsen if macroeconomic pressures persist.
Kroger projected modest gains for 2026, with identical-store sales growth of 1% to 2% excluding fuel and adjusted earnings per share landing somewhere between $5.10 and $5.30.
The strategy is clear: stop chasing billion-dollar mega-mergers, get back to basics, cut prices, open new stores, and let Greg Foran’s Walmart-tested playbook do the rest.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Who owns Kroger in 2026?
Kroger (NYSE: KR) is publicly owned, with Vanguard (~12%), BlackRock (~8–9%), and Berkshire Hathaway (~7.9%) as its three largest shareholders.
Q2. Is Kroger privately owned?
No. Kroger has been publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange since the 1920s, under the ticker symbol KR.
Q3. Who founded Kroger and when?
Barney Kroger founded the company in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio, with just $372 in personal savings and one small grocery store.
Q4. Who is the current CEO of Kroger in 2026?
Greg Foran, former head of Walmart U.S. and Air New Zealand, became Kroger’s new CEO on February 9, 2026 — the first external hire for the top job in company history.
Q5. Why did the Kroger-Albertsons merger fail?
The $24.6 billion merger was blocked on antitrust grounds by the FTC and state attorneys general and was officially terminated in December 2024. Albertsons is now suing Kroger for a $600 million termination fee.
Q6. Does Warren Buffett own part of Kroger?
Yes. Berkshire Hathaway owns approximately 50 million shares of Kroger — about 7.9% of the company — making it one of the top three largest shareholders.
Q7. How many Kroger stores are there in 2026?
Kroger operates nearly 2,800 stores across 35 U.S. states under banners including Ralphs, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Harris Teeter, and Dillons.
Q8. What is Kroger’s latest acquisition in 2026?
Kroger announced the acquisition of regional grocery chain Giant Eagle, with the deal expected to close in 2027 under new CEO Greg Foran’s growth strategy.
Kroger (NYSE: KR) is a publicly traded company owned by its shareholders, with no single controlling family or private owner. The three biggest shareholders are The Vanguard Group (~12%), Berkshire Hathaway (~7.9%), and BlackRock (~8–9%) — institutional giants whose combined stake gives them enormous influence over the company’s strategic direction.
Barney Kroger started it all in 1883 with $372 and one store in Cincinnati. Today, Kroger operates nearly 2,800 stores in 35 states, generates over $147 billion in annual revenue, employs more than 403,000 people, and has just appointed its first-ever external CEO — Greg Foran — to lead it through one of the most consequential periods of transformation in its 143-year history.
The failed Albertsons merger closed one chapter. The Giant Eagle acquisition and Foran’s price-cutting strategy are opening the next one.