Nathan Kirsh moved from a modest family malt business into his own milling and wholesale ventures, then built Jetro and Restaurant Depot into a U.S. food-distribution empire now being sold to Sysco for $29.1 billion. [1][2]
His career started around a family business but quickly became independent
Kirsh first worked with his mother in the malt factory originally established by his father, giving him some operating exposure before he launched his own corn-milling and malt venture in Eswatini in 1958. [1]
He later acquired a South African food wholesaler and developed it around the cash-and-carry model, supplying independent shopkeepers rather than relying on the original family factory for his later scale. [1]
A severe South African downturn later wiped out much of the fortune he had built there, leaving Jetro, the U.S. cash-and-carry business he had opened in the mid-1970s, as the core surviving asset. [1]
Jetro became the dominant source of his modern fortune
Kirsh acquired Restaurant Depot in 1994 and combined it with Jetro, building a wholesale network focused on independent restaurants and small retailers rather than large national chains. [2][1]
In 2026 Sysco agreed to acquire Jetro Restaurant Depot for $29.1 billion including debt, crystallizing the value of a business Kirsh had built over roughly five decades after his early family-business start. [2]
Sources for background
Sources reviewed Sep 29, 2026.
- Bloomberg Billionaires Index - Natie Kirsh · Bloomberg · May 1, 2026
- The Reclusive 94-Year-Old Who Just Sold His Food Empire for $29 Billion · The Wall Street Journal · Mar 26, 2026
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