Lynsi Snyder

Lynsi Lavelle Snyder-Ellingson[2][3] (previously Seawell, Martinez, and Torres; born May 5, 1982) is an American billionaire businesswoman, the owner and heiress of the In-N-Out Burger company. She is the only child of Lynda and H. Guy Snyder[4] and the only grandchild of Harry and Esther Snyder, who founded In-N-Out in 1948.

Lynsi Snyder
Born (1982-05-05) May 5, 1982
Glendora, California, U.S.
OccupationBusinesswoman
Net worthUS$3.0 billion (December 2020)[1]
TitlePresident and owner of In-N-Out Burger
Spouse(s)Jeremiah Seawell (2000–2003; divorced)
Richard Martinez (2004–2011; divorced)
Val Torres Jr. (2011–2014; divorced)
Sean Ellingson (m. 2014)
Children4

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, in 2012, Snyder was the youngest American female billionaire.[5] As the sole beneficiary of family trusts, she is currently In-N-Out's majority owner and ultimately received control of the company's stock in its entirety on her 35th birthday, becoming the sole owner.[6][7]

Early life

Snyder was born in Glendora, California, to Lynda Lou (née Wilson) and Harry Guy Snyder. She is of Dutch descent on her father's side.[8] When she was 12, her parents separated and she moved with her mother to the small town of Shingletown, California, where she lived on a ranch and graduated from Redding Christian School, a private high school in Palo Cedro, California, that her parents helped found.[9] Her parents eventually divorced in January 1997.[10] She has two older half-sisters (Traci and Teri) through her mother. Traci is married to former In-N-Out President and current COO Mark Taylor.[11] Snyder's uncle Rich died in 1993 in a plane crash, and her father died in 1999 from an accidental drug overdose.[12]

Career

On January 1, 2010, Snyder became the 6th President of In-N-Out, succeeding her brother-in-law, Mark Taylor, who was appointed the Chief Operating Officer of the company.[13] She occupies the same position that her grandfather Harry (1948–1976), uncle Rich (1976–1993), father Guy (1993–1999), and grandmother Esther (1999–2006) previously held. Before Snyder became President of In-N-Out Burger, a taped message from her was broadcast to all company associates letting them know about the transition and the future of the company. Esther Snyder's signature was finally replaced with Lynsi Snyder's on associates' paychecks in 2009, three years after Esther Snyder's death.

During 2006, Snyder and In-N-Out were embroiled in a bitter lawsuit with a former company executive, Rich Boyd.[14] Boyd was fired for allegedly misusing company funds, but he claimed that Snyder, and then Vice-President Mark Taylor, were trying to oust the elderly Esther Snyder from the company. Both Lynsi Snyder and Mark Taylor denied the claims, and the lawsuit was settled out of court in May 2006.[15]

Snyder took ownership of her father's share of In-N-Out (50% of the company) on her 30th birthday, and inherited the balance of the company that was not already in trust for her when her grandmother Esther died.[16][17][18] Snyder gained full control of the company when she turned 35.[19]

In February 2013, Snyder was ranked a billionaire for the first time by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, based on an In-N-Out valuation of $1.1 billion.[20] That same year, she ranked No. 93 on Maxim's annual Hot 100 list.[21]

Philanthropy

Snyder funds Healing Hearts & Nations (HHN), a non-profit corporation that builds training centers in Africa and India and trains local community leaders for the purpose of providing different forms of counseling to the underprivileged local population.[22] She is also actively involved with the In-N-Out Burger Foundation, which supports abused and neglected children.[23]

Personal life

Marriages and children

Snyder has been married four times and has four children. Her husbands have been:

  1. Jeremiah Seawell (2000–2003): Seawell was a local boy from Redding, California, who was Snyder's high school sweetheart. They married shortly after her 18th birthday, in summer 2000, and moved back to her hometown of Glendora.[24] The couple separated within two years and eventually divorced in 2003.[25]
  2. Richard Martinez (2004–2011): Snyder then married former In-N-Out employee Richard Martinez. In November 2006, Snyder gave birth to fraternal twins (one boy, one girl).[26] Snyder filed for divorce in September 2010, and this was finalized in late 2011.[27]
  3. Val Torres Jr. (2011–2014): In 2010, while still married to Martinez, Snyder began dating Torres, a race car driver. On July 15, 2011, Snyder gave birth to their son. Her divorce from Martinez was finalized later in 2011. Shortly after, she married Torres in a small ceremony.[8] Snyder filed for divorce from Torres in 2013; the marriage officially ended the following year.[28]
  4. Sean Ellingson (July 5, 2014 – present): In May 2014, Snyder became engaged to another ex-In-N-Out employee, Sean Ellingson, a native of La Verne, California. They married on July 5 of that year in Malibu, California, and had a small ceremony in her hometown of Glendora.[29] She gave birth to their son, her fourth child, in late 2014. Ellingson is the older brother of actor Evan Ellingson.

Religion

Snyder is a devout Evangelical Christian, and has spoken several times about her faith.[30] In 2015, her testimonial was featured on I Am Second. In it, she spoke about the many deaths within her family and her previous failed marriages and how her faith helped her cope with these misfortunes.[31]

Drag racing and residence

Like her father, Snyder is an avid drag racing fan and member of the NHRA.[32] She regularly competes in drag racing events.[8] In 2015, she was featured on an episode of Jay Leno's Garage, where she showed off a modified '41 Willys that was previously owned by her late father.[33]

In August 2012, Snyder reportedly purchased a 7-bedroom, 16-bathroom mansion with 16,600 square feet (1,540 m2) of interior space in Bradbury, California, from Texas Rangers third baseman Adrián Beltré for a sum in excess of US$17 million.[34] Snyder has stated that she works primarily out of the Baldwin Park office, home of In-N-Out University and formerly company headquarters, rather than the Irvine corporate headquarters because it is closer to her Bradbury home.[13]

Reclusivity and kidnapping attempts

Snyder has frequently been called reclusive and media-shy, due to her long-time penchant for declining nearly all interview requests and rarely appearing at public events.[35] However, in recent years she has become more open to the media, participating in profiles with the Orange County Register, Orange Coast, and CBS News.[13][30][36]

In her January 2014 interview with Orange Coast, Snyder said that she has been the target of at least two kidnapping attempts. In the wake of these attempts, she has deliberately kept herself out of the public eye for the safety of her family, she said. The first purported kidnapping attempt occurred when she was still a high school student in Shingletown; the second took place several years later in Baldwin Park, near the local In-N-Out distribution center.[36]

References
  1. "Forbes profile: Lynsi Snyder". Forbes. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  2. "Points Detail for Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson". NHRA. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  3. "Corporate Inquiry: In-N-Out Burger". Arizona Corporation Commission. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  4. "In-N-Out Executive's Death Ruled Accidental". LA Times. January 26, 2000. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
  5. Blackwood, Emily (2020-12-23). "Meet The 15 Youngest Billionaires In America". Your Money Magic. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  6. Sorvino, Chloe (May 5, 2017). "Best Birthday Ever? How In-N-Out Burger's Lynsi Snyder Turned 35 - And Became A Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  7. Patrick Kiger, In-N-Out's Burger Queen, Orange Coast, January 27, 2014.
  8. "FEATURED FLYER – National Dragster". Readperiodicals.com. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  9. Sorvino, Chloe. "Exclusive: In-N-Out Billionaire Lynsi Snyder Opens Up About Her Troubled Past And The Burger Chain's Future". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  10. "In-N-Out from the inside out". La Verne Magazine. La Verne Magazine. 2010-03-26. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  11. Hiltzik, Michael (2009-05-07). "In-N-Out: Can perfection survive?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  12. "In-N-Out Executive's Death Ruled Accidental". Los Angeles Times. 2000-01-26. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  13. Clough, Richard (2013-02-22). "Drag-racing heiress keeps In-N-Out on course". The Orange County Register.
  14. "Rumors swirl around In-N-Out". 2006-09-25. Archived from the original on 2008-01-27.
  15. "A Sizzling Family Food Fight". 2006-02-27. Archived from the original on 2006-11-10.
  16. "In-N-Out – (Success)ion". 2006-02-22.
  17. "In-N-Out matriarch Snyder dies at age 86". 2006-08-06. Archived from the original on 2006-08-07.
  18. "Esther Snyder, matriarch of In-N-Out Burger, dies". 2006-08-06. Archived from the original on 2006-08-14.
  19. Lubove, Seth (February 7, 2013). "Lynsi Torres, In-N-Out Burger's Elusive Billionaire". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
  20. Lubove, Seth (2013-02-04). "Youngest American Woman Billionaire Found With In-N-Out". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  21. "Lynsi Torres". Maxim.
  22. "Lynsi Torres, the 30-Year-Old Owner of In-N-Out". KCET. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  23. "Child Abuse Foundation". In-N-Out Burger. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  24. "Nada Fakhreddine and Bassam Yassine | 2001 Valiant Street, Glendora, CA 91741". BlockShopper. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  25. Perman, Stacy (May 12, 2009). In-N-Out Burger. Harper Collins. ISBN 9780061872143. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  26. "In-N-Out Heiress's $$$ Child Support Payment". HuffPost. 2013-02-08. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  27. "Petitioner Lynsi Martinez's Declaration of Urgency" (PDF). Law Office of Mitchell A. Jacobs. June 13, 2011. Retrieved 2016-07-16 – via Radar Online.
  28. "Torres Jr. wins title with borrowed car". National Dragster. August 14, 2009. Archived from the original on 2013-02-07 – via Docstoc.com.
  29. "Registry List". Williams-Sonoma. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17.
  30. "President Lynsi Snyder on why In-N-Out will 'never' franchise or go public". CBS News. 2015-09-18. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  31. "Radio Promo Download". I Am Second. 2012-09-30. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  32. "Columns – Agent 1320". Drag Racing Online. 2010-01-21. Archived from the original on 2010-01-25. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  33. "1941 Willys Coupe – Jay Leno's Garage". YouTube. 2015-06-14. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  34. "In-N-Out Heiress Buys Adrián Beltré's Behemoth Bradbury (CA) Compound". Variety Media, LLC. 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  35. "Profiles of OC's Wealthiest – 13 – 24". Orange County Business Journal. 2010-08-01. Archived from the original on 2011-02-28.
  36. "In-N-Out's Burger Queen". Orange Coast Magazine. 2014-01-27. Retrieved 2016-07-16.

Further reading
  • Perman, Stacy (2009). In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-134671-2.
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