- Dick Portillo opened a hot dog stand with $1,100 in 1963 and built it into a beloved regional chain around Chicago, Portillo’s. After cashing out in 2014 for nearly $1 billion, he retired--then built a new real estate and restaurant empire. Read here @forbes.com: www.forbes.com/sites/giacom...
Sep 1, 2025 13:31
- Portillo has invested in 24 Portillo's locations and commissaries, plus strip malls in the Chicago suburbs, industrial properties in Indiana, Houston apartments, spec homes in Naples, FL and the Boathouse at Disney Springs, America’s 3rd-highest-grossing independent restaurant.
- “Not bad for a kid with no education," he told me, leafing through photos of his properties. Including his portfolio of bonds, private equity and stocks plus his homes, jet and yacht (named Top Dog), Forbes estimates Portillo is worth more than $1 billion.
- Still, even with this much success, he admits it’s a less exciting life than the days when he was building Portillo's. “Portillo’s was fun. A lot of work, my God, the hours and the sacrifices,” he recalls. “I’m sorry I sold, I was happier. I’m happy now, but it was more fun.”
