Meet In-N-Out Burger’s Quiet Billionaire Heiress, Lynsi Torres

You may not know her by name, but if you live in the western United States you probably know the restaurant that’s made Lynsi Torres America’s youngest female billionaire.

A brief history of In-N-Out Burger:

1948: Harry and Esther Snyder open California’s first drive-thru hamburger stand, naming it In-N-Out Burger. That same year, Harry creates the speaker system we all use in drive-thrus today.

1958: Snyder now has 5 restaurants in Southern California, and switches to fountain drinks rather than bottles

1963: Snyder no longer has Esther press each burger patty, as he opens a patty-making facility

1973: In-N-Out Burger celebrates 25th anniversary and now has 13 restaurants

1976: Harry Snyder passes away at the age of 67, leaving son Rich Snyder as president. Rich runs In-N-Out with brother Guy

1984: In-N-Out Child Abuse Foundation started

1988: 50th restaurant opens

1992: First non-California restaurant opened in Las Vegas, Nevada

1993: Rich Snyder dies in a plane crash. Under Rich’s leadership, In-N-Out Burger expands to more than 90 restaurants. His brother Guy takes over as president.

1994: 100th restaurant opens

1999: Guy Snyder dies from an overdose of painkillers at 49. Under his leadership, In-N-Out expanded to 140 locations. Esther Snyder and two co-founders take over In-N-Out presidency.

2005: 200th location opens

2006: Esther Snyder passes away at 86. Presidency is given to first non-family member Mark Taylor, former vice-president of operations.

Over the next decade, In-N-Out would expand to Utah, Arizona, and Texas.

Today, Lynsi Torres (formerly Martinez), daughter of Guy, and only grandchild of Esther and Harry runs the company as president at just 30 years old.

Born Lynsi Lavelle Snyder, Torres was to take ownership of her father’s share of In-N-Out on her 30th birthday, but inherited the share of the company that was not already in trust for her when her grandmother Esther died. She will reportedly gain access to the remaining half of the company when she turns 35.

Bloomberg recently profiled Lynsi and In-N-Out and estimates the company is valued at about $1.1 billion, though others have said it’s worth more than $2 billion. Even famed billionaire Warren Buffet has mentioned he’d like to buy the company.

Interestingly, Torres, has managed to stay off most “world’s richest” lists and mostly shies away from interviews and the media attention.

As for her personal life, shortly after her father Guy died in 1999, she married her high school sweetheart Jeremiah Seawell. Her marriage to Seawell lasted only two years. In 2006, she married Richard Martinez and they had fraternal twins. In 2011, she officially divorced Martinez. She is now married two her third husband, contractor and drag racer, Val Torres Jr.

The hamburger heiress recently purchased a $17 million home in Bradbury, California.

Published in Latino Daily News