America’s Largest Private Companies by Revenue
Key Takeaways
- Cargill generates $154 billion in annual revenue, making it America’s largest private company.
- Only Cargill and Koch exceed $100 billion in annual revenue.
- More than half of the top 15 companies operate in food, grocery, or beverage-related industries.
Public companies often dominate headlines, but some of America’s biggest businesses remain privately held and largely out of the public eye.
This visualization ranks the 15 largest U.S. private companies by annual revenue using Forbes data as of December 2025.
While AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic command enormous valuations, their revenues remain a fraction of those generated by long-established food, retail, and industrial companies.
Cargill: The Grain Giant
No private company generates more revenue than Cargill, at $154 billion annually.
That figure trails Amazon’s $717 billion in annual revenue, but Cargill’s sales still exceed those of many household-name public companies. The company has remained privately owned since its founding in 1865.
The following table ranks the largest U.S. private companies by annual revenue as of December 2025.
| Rank | Name | Industry | Revenue (billions $) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cargill | Food & Drink | 154 |
| 2 | Koch | Multicompany | 125 |
| 3 | Publix Super Markets | Food Markets | 59.7 |
| 4 | Mars | Food & Drink | 55 |
| 5 | H-E-B Grocery Company | Food Markets | 49.6 |
| 6 | Reyes Holdings | Food, Drink & Tobacco | 44 |
| 7 | Enterprise Mobility | Services | 38 |
| 8 | Fidelity Investments | Insurance | 32.7 |
| 9 | Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits | Food, Drink & Tobacco | 25 |
| 10 | Cox Enterprises | Media | 23.5 |
| 11 | Bechtel | Construction | 23 |
| 12 | Gordon Food Service | Food, Drink & Tobacco | 23 |
| 13 | JM Family Enterprises | Consumer Durables | 22.8 |
| 14 | Meijer | Food Markets | 22 |
| 15 | Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores | Convenience Stores & Gas Stations | 21.6 |
Headquartered in Minnesota, Cargill is a major global producer of agricultural commodities such as grain, meat, and palm oil. It employs more than 150,000 people across 70 countries.
Cargill is one of the world’s largest food companies and is responsible for roughly one-quarter of all U.S. grain exports. It also operates a division dedicated to managing risk across international commodity markets.
The company is one of the Big Four meatpackers and produces more than one-fifth of all U.S. meat. As of 2026, the Cargill-MacMillan family continues to own more than 85% of the firm.
Top Revenues in the Food and Beverage Industry
Beyond Cargill, many of America’s largest private companies operate in food-related industries. Confectionery company Mars generates $55 billion in annual revenue and is best known for brands such as Snickers, M&M’s, and Skittles. It is also a major pet food manufacturer.
Other leading private food companies include Publix Super Markets ($59.7 billion), H-E-B Grocery Company ($49.6 billion), Reyes Holdings ($44 billion), Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits ($25 billion), Gordon Food Service ($23 billion), and Meijer ($22 billion).
Food companies dominate the ranking because they operate in essential, high-volume markets with steady demand. Commodity producers, grocery chains, and food distributors process enormous sales volumes, allowing their revenues to rival or exceed those of many large public corporations.
The Top Non-Food Private Companies
Koch, Inc. generates $125 billion in annual revenue, making it the largest private company outside the food and beverage sector. The Wichita-based conglomerate operates through dozens of subsidiaries spanning energy, paper, chemicals, fertilizer, finance, and other industries.
Enterprise Mobility generates $38 billion in annual revenue and controls roughly 40% of the car-rental market, making it the industry leader. It is followed by financial services company Fidelity Investments, which generates $32.7 billion and is one of the world’s largest asset managers.
Several lesser-known companies also rank highly. Bechtel, for example, generates $23 billion in annual revenue and is the second-largest construction company in the United States.
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