What the world eats and drinks isn't just a necessity; it's a multitrillion-dollar powerhouse. The global food and beverage industry is estimated to be worth a mind-blowing $8.71 trillion (£6.51tn) in 2025, according to consulting firm Towards FnB. Needless to say, the sector has cooked up more than its fair share of billionaires, from fried chicken magnates to confectionery moguls and beverage barons.
Read on to get the scoop on the richest of them all, based on the Forbes 2025 World's Billionaires list. All dollar amounts in US dollars.
Elisabeth DeLuca inherited her husband Fred's 50% stake in Subway following his death in 2015. Fred co-founded the sandwich giant in 1965 with family friend Peter Buck, who owned the other half. Buck passed away in 2021.
In 2024, DeLuca and Buck's heirs sold Subway to Dunkin' and Arby's owner Roark Capital for north of $9 billion (£6.7bn). A former nurse, DeLuca is now devoted to philanthropy, overseeing billion-dollar foundations, funding medical research, and donating thousands of acres of Florida wilderness for conservation.
Mexico's richest woman, María Asunción Aramburuzabala landed a major stake in beer behemoth Grupo Modelo in 1995 following the death of her tycoon father. A shrewd business player, she founded Tresalia Capital soon after, turning it into one of Latin America's most successful investment firms years before Modelo's $20 billion (£15bn) sale to AB InBev in 2013.
Through Tresalia, Aramburuzabala has built a diverse portfolio spanning Kraft Heinz, Tory Burch, and Coty, boosting her net worth to $9 billion (£6.7bn).
China's condiment king, Pang Kang is the former chairman of the nation's top soy and oyster sauce maker Foshan Haitian, which generates $3.7 billion (£2.8bn) in annual revenue.
Pang, who stepped down in 2024, oversaw the company's IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange a decade earlier. He owns a substantial 38% of the venerable business, which traces its origins all the way back to the Qing Dynasty in the 17th century.
When college student Todd Graves pitched his idea for a restaurant serving only chicken fingers, his professor flunked the plan and banks refused to back it. Undeterred, he financed the venture himself, opening the first Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1996.
Nearly three decades on, the chain is one of America's fastest-growing fast-food brands and a TikTok phenomenon, with over 900 locations worldwide, including in the Middle East and soon the UK. With legions of fans, including celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Post Malone, and Chance the Rapper, the business is a runaway hit.
Born to an Iowa farmer, Harry Stine turned a childhood fascination with crops into Stine Seed, a multibillion-dollar seed empire. A self-taught genetics whiz, he has built it into one of America's leading agribusinesses by developing and licensing high-yield corn and soybean varieties to industry heavyweights like Monsanto and Syngenta.
Known for his razor-sharp data instincts and negotiating skills, Stine struck major global deals in the 1990s that became the foundation of his fortune. Despite his billions, the proudly neurodivergent entrepreneur still identifies most with his roots as a humble farmer.
The late Dr Ruben Rausing founded food packaging titan Tetra Pak in Lund, Sweden in 1943 and presided over the global expansion of the company.
The firm is now owned by his three grandchildren, Finn, Jörn, and Kirsten, who have equal stakes and sit on the board. They also own a chunk of US ingredients leader IFF, while Jörn has a significant interest in British online grocer Ocado.
The Mars family is the richest clan in the global food and drink industry, and America's second-wealthiest family overall, according to Forbes. The dynasty currently counts six billionaires, including Marijke, Pamela, Valerie, and Victoria Mars (pictured).
They each inherited around 8% of the firm from their father Forrest Mars Jr, who died in 2016. All four siblings have worked for the company in senior positions at various points, helping to steer the multibillion-dollar confectionery and pet food empire, which turned over $54.6 billion (£40.8bn) last year.
One of two energy drink billionaires in the top 20, Lin Muqin is a rags-to-riches success story, having started out as a humble technician at a Chinese state-owned construction firm. He eventually joined beverage company Eastroc in 1997 and secured financing of $570,000 to acquire it in 2003, the equivalent of $1 million (£750k) in today's money.
Lin then doubled down on Eastroc's energy drinks offerings, transforming it into China's market leader. The firm, which has since branched out into coffee and tea, now generates annual revenues of $2.6 billion (£1.9bn).
Texas-born tycoon Tilman Fertitta built his multibillion-dollar fortune through Landry's, the restaurant and entertainment firm behind Landry's Seafood House, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, Joe's Crab Shack, and Saltgrass Steak House, as well as the Golden Nugget Casinos.
A natural showman, Fertitta also owns the Houston Rockets NBA team and currently serves as US ambassador to Italy and San Marino. A close friend of President Trump, who calls him his "twin", Fertitta is one of the Republican Party's most die-hard supporters.
The three children of Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy, Trudy Cathy White, Bubba Cathy, and Dan Cathy (pictured) were bequeathed the fast-food chain upon their father's death in 2014. Trudy is the firm's 'ambassador', while Bubba and Dan take more active roles, serving as executive vice president and chairman respectively.
Staying true to their devout Christian father's wishes, the siblings have steadfastly declined to take the firm public or open its outlets on Sundays, keeping it as a day of rest for employees.
Brothers Chris and Jude Reyes have turned a small-scale family venture into a formidable food and drink distribution empire. It all started in 1976, when they and their father bought an obscure South Carolina beer distributor for less than a million dollars.
Nearly five decades later, their company, Reyes Holdings, now moves everything from Coca-Cola to Coors, pulling in about $40 billion (£29.9bn) in annual revenue through divisions like Martin-Brower and Reyes Beverage Group. The duo serve as co-chairmen, while younger brother Duke, also a billionaire, runs the show as CEO, with fellow siblings Tom and William holding senior executive roles.
Ravi Jaipuria is dubbed the cola king of India. The food and drink tycoon started out in his family's business in 1985 as a bottler for Coca-Cola before switching to its arch-rival Pepsi in 1987.
Under Jaipuria's leadership, the family firm has morphed into sprawling conglomerate RJ Corp, which includes one of the world's biggest Pepsi bottlers, a major KFC and Pizza Hut franchisee, and India's sole Costa Coffee franchisee. The group's other interests include ice cream, tea, sportswear, education, and healthcare.
The Netherlands' richest person, Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken officially resides in London. For this reason, she also appears on the Sunday Times Rich List, which ranks her as the UK's third-richest female.
As you might have guessed, de Carvalho-Heineken derives her fortune from Heineken, the Dutch brewing company founded by her great-grandfather in 1864. She owns a near 24% stake in the firm, inherited from her late father Freddy in 2002.
Another Chinese rags-to-riches success story, Qin Yinglin began his career working for a state-run pork producer in Henan province. In 1992, he and his wife Qian Ying set up their own pig-raising business, starting out with just 22 pigs.
Fast-forward to 2025 and the business, Muyuan Foods, is one of China's leading pig farming and pork-producing concerns, with an annual turnover of $22.4 billion (£16.7bn).
Brazil's second-richest person and the sixth-wealthiest in Latin America, Jorge Paulo Lemann is a veritable food and drink industry mogul, though his role is largely hands-off.
The investing legend is the controlling shareholder of brewing behemoth AB InBev, and he has a sizeable interest in Canada's Restaurant Brands International, the parent of Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes, and Firehouse Subs.
Nicknamed 'the invisible billionaire', publicity-shy Emmanuel Besnier is the controlling shareholder of Lactalis, the world's number one dairy business. Founded by his grandfather in 1933, the French conglomerate owns a slew of brands including Président, Galbani, and Lactel.
Besnier's siblings Jean-Michel and Marie are also major shareholders in Lactalis and billionaires to boot.
Giovanni Ferrero was catapulted into the billionaire club when his father Michele passed away in 2015, leaving him with 75% of the eponymous family confectionery business, which has brought the world Nutella, Kinder Surprise, and Ferrero Rocher. Giovanni's only sibling Pietro died in 2011, so he was the sole heir to his father's billions.
Italy's richest person, Ferrero now serves as the company's executive chairman, having stepped down as CEO in 2017.
The other energy drink tycoon in the top 20, Red Bull heir Mark Mateschitz is Austria's most moneyed person and Europe's wealthiest millennial. He was only 30 when he inherited 49% of Red Bull from his father Dietrich, who died in 2022.
On top of the global beverage juggernaut, Red Bull spans Formula 1, soccer teams, esports, plus a whole lot more besides.
Jacqueline and John Mars are the surviving children of Forrest Mars Sr, who transformed the confectionery and pet food company founded by his father, Frank Mars, into a global juggernaut.
The siblings, who have had active roles in the family firm, each own one-third of Mars Inc, while the remaining shares are held by the aforementioned four daughters of their late brother Forrest Mars Jr.
Who knew bottled water could be so lucrative? The world's richest food and drink tycoon, Zhong Shanshan is the founder and chairman of Nongfu Spring, China's largest packaged water supplier. Amazingly, Zhong has little formal education, having dropped out of elementary school during the Cultural Revolution. He went on to cut his teeth as a construction worker, journalist, and beverage salesman before starting Nongfu Spring in 1996.
China's richest person from 2021 to 2024, Zhong has since been overtaken by Zhang Yiming, the co-founder of TikTok parent ByteDance.
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