Jude Reyes built Reyes Holdings with his brother Chris from a small family-backed beer distributorship into a large privately held food and beverage distribution company that the brothers continue to co-chair. [1][2]
The company started with a small distributorship and family capital
Forbes says Jude Reyes, his brother Chris and their father bought a small Schlitz beer distributor in South Carolina for $740,000 in 1976, establishing the company that became Reyes Holdings. [1]
Reyes Holdings describes Jude and Chris as the founders and traces the company from that first South Carolina distributor to a family-run enterprise operating across food and beverage distribution. [2]
Because their father participated in the original purchase, Jude did not begin without family support, but the reviewed record does not show that he inherited an already scaled operating company or billionaire-level fortune. [1][2]
Expansion across distribution categories drove the later fortune
The company history shows a long acquisition path that added Martin Brower, dozens of beer distributors and later Coca-Cola bottling territories, materially widening the business beyond its original beer-distribution base. [2]
Forbes identifies Jude as co-chair of the resulting multibillion-dollar sales enterprise, supporting substantial self-created scale while preserving the importance of the family's contribution to the original acquisition. [1][2]
Sources for background
Sources reviewed Sep 23, 2026.
- Jude Reyes · Forbes · Sep 15, 2026
- History · Reyes Holdings
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