Founder of Chipotle finally becomes billionaire more than three decades after starting the company

When Steve Ells opened the first Chipotle near the University of Denver back in 1993, his goal wasn’t global domination or billionaire status.

He simply wanted to earn enough money to fund a fine dining restaurant.

Fast forward more than 30 years, and not only has he changed the way Americans eat, but he’s also officially joined the billionaire club.

According to Forbes, Ells is now worth $1 billion, making him one of 288 new additions to this year’s World’s Billionaires list.

It is a surprising milestone for someone who has always focused more on ingredient quality than quarterly profits.

At 59, the classically trained chef helped shape Chipotle into the fast-casual juggernaut it is today, even if his own path to wealth was anything but straightforward.

After launching the concept with burritos made from ethically sourced ingredients, Ells brought in McDonald’s as an early investor in the late 1990s. This move helped scale Chipotle rapidly, but also diluted Ells’ personal stake.

By the time Chipotle went public in 2006, he owned less than four percent of the company. He kept selling off shares as the stock price soared, and by 2014, his ownership had dwindled to just one percent.

Forbes

Despite missing out on earlier surges in value, the company’s continued success has worked in his favor.

Last year alone, Chipotle’s 130,000 employees sold over $11.3 billion worth of food across 3,700 locations.

That boom helped push Chipotle’s market cap to a staggering $68 billion, making it the third most valuable restaurant chain in the world after McDonald’s and Starbucks.

Though Ells stepped down as CEO in 2018 and left his role as executive chairman in 2020, his remaining stock, executive earnings, and smart investments have finally lifted his net worth into billionaire territory.

Interestingly, Ells lives a more understated life than you might expect. He has purchased a few luxury properties in Manhattan, but stays mostly out of the spotlight.

Recently, he launched a new venture called Counter Service, an all-vegan, robot-assisted restaurant concept.

While the first iteration failed, Ells is already planning a new version, determined to recapture the innovative spirit that transformed a modest burrito shop into a global dining empire.

Ells’ journey began in Indiana, where he was born to a pharmaceutical executive. He grew up in Colorado, studied art history at the University of Colorado Boulder, and later trained at the Culinary Institute of America.

His culinary career took him to San Francisco, where he worked as a sous chef at the iconic Stars restaurant. Inspired by the city’s taquerias, he returned to Denver to open a Mexican-style eatery with a $4 burrito at its center. What started as a stepping stone turned into a movement and, eventually, a billion-dollar fortune.