Chick-fil-A Stays Family-Owned While Growing Worldwide

Chick-fil-A is one of America's biggest fast-food chains — but unlike its rivals, it refuses to sell shares to the public. CEO Andrew Cathy, the grandson of the founder, wants to keep the chicken chain a family business even as it expands into countries like Canada, Singapore, and the United Kingdom.

Most big restaurant brands are publicly traded, meaning anyone can buy a piece of the company on the stock market. Chick-fil-A is privately held — owned by the founding family and not listed on any stock exchange. Because of this, it doesn't have to report its earnings every three months like public companies do.

Still, financial disclosures reveal how the company performed in 2025:

• Revenue (total money brought in): up 14% to $10.3 billion
• Net income (profit after all costs): up 1% to $1.05 billion
• System sales (sales across all ~3,000 locations): $23.92 billion
• Ranked the 3rd-largest U.S. restaurant by sales, behind McDonald's and Starbucks
• Opened 179 new restaurants last year

Why stay private? Cathy says it lets the company think long-term: "We're able to plan for the quarter century, and we don't have to plan for the quarter." Staying private also avoids stock market pain — shares of Jersey Mike's have dropped nearly 28% since its IPO (Initial Public Offering, when a company first sells shares to the public) in July.

While rivals like McDonald's struggle with slow customer traffic due to inflation (rising prices making people spend carefully), Chick-fil-A says it's having a good year thanks to strong service.

A key difference: technology. Many competitors are adding AI voice ordering at drive-thrus. Chick-fil-A is saying no — it wants real human interaction to keep its famous hospitality. The company has topped customer satisfaction rankings for over a decade.

Bottom line: Chick-fil-A is proving that a family-owned, privately held business can grow steadily and stay profitable without going public — focusing on people over quick profits.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/04/chick-fil-a-ceo-andrew-cathy-family-ownership-growth.html