‘Raising a family is not easy here’: 43-year-old billionaire burger heiress is leaving home

The In-N-Out burger chain, with its ubiquitous palm trees and cult-like following on the West Coast, is distinctly Californian. But its billionaire owner is no longer calling the state home.

Lynsi Snyder, whose grandparents founded In-N-Out nearly eight decades ago near Los Angeles, told a podcast she is moving with her family to Tennessee.

Lynsi Snyder’s grandparents founded In-N-Out nearly eight decades ago near Los Angeles.Credit: MediaNews Group via Getty Images

“There’s a lot of great things about California, but raising a family is not easy here. Doing business is not easy here,” Snyder said in a July 18 interview with Allie Beth Stuckey on the Relatable podcast.

“The bulk of our stores are still going to be here in California, but it will be wonderful having an office out there, growing out there and being able to have the family and other people’s families out there.”

The move marks a major departure for both In-N-Out and Snyder personally, who grew up largely in Northern California. The burger chain first announced its expansion to Tennessee in 2023 and has started construction on a 9290-square-metre office building in Franklin, outside of Nashville. It’s expected to complete construction next year and will soon open its first restaurants in the state, the company said in September.

“Opening an office far from our roots is something new and exciting,” Snyder said in a statement, adding that the company has no plans to close any of its California locations. Expanding to Tennessee offers employees “wonderful opportunities to buy a home and raise a family”.

Snyder, who’s now worth $US7.3 billion ($11.1 billion), will be the richest woman in Tennessee when she relocates, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The 43-year-old mother of four was the youngest American female billionaire when Bloomberg first valued her fortune in 2013, three years after she was named president of the family-run business following the deaths of her father and uncle. She also inherited her family’s love of drag racing and has competed in the National Hot Rod Association’s Top Sportsman class.

In the podcast interview, Snyder spoke of the business environment in California and recounted the clash the company had during the COVID pandemic with the city of San Francisco, which temporarily closed its indoor dining for refusing to check customers’ vaccination status.

“We were shut down for a brief moment, but it’s worth it,” said Snyder, whose company’s cups and packaging include Bible verses as a “declaration” of the family’s faith. The chain also permanently closed its location in Oakland last year due to crime and safety concerns, the first time it had shuttered a restaurant in the company’s history.

‘There’s a lot of great things about California, but raising a family is not easy here. Doing business is not easy here.’

Lynsi Snyder

The burger chain is keeping its headquarters in California, though moving it from Irvine in Orange County to Baldwin Park, a suburb east of Los Angeles where Snyder’s grandparents started the company in 1948. The closely held firm has been maintaining offices in both locations but will close the Irvine post by 2030, Snyder said.

Even with the expansion to Tennessee, Snyder said she plans to keep In-N-Out’s small footprint and doesn’t want to be on every corner or in every state. At present, it operates more than 400 restaurants across eight states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho. Tennessee is reachable, she said, thanks to a warehouse in Texas.

“Florida has begged us, and we’re still saying no,” Snyder said. “The East Coast states, we’re still saying no.”

Bloomberg

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