The Quiet Wholesale Billionaire in Wall Street's Backyard

Four days after Hurricane Sandy slammed into New York, billionaire Nathan “Natie” Kirsh ambles through the aisles of a 75,000-square-foot Restaurant Depot warehouse he owns in College Point, Queens. Dressed in a Gore-Tex jacket and loafers, the 80-year-old South African squeezes past dozens of independent restaurant owners picking through heaps of carrots, lobsters, and hot dogs. A frenzied bottleneck forms as street vendors and restaurant chefs, some guiding several shopping carts, vie for a spot in checkout lines. “Chaos,” says Kirsh, who has a net worth of at least $5.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. “It’s fantastic. And profitable.”

With a 63 percent stake in Brooklyn-based Jetro Holdings, Kirsh controls 86 Restaurant Depots and 10 Jetro Cash & Carry stores, a chain that sells wholesale groceries to urban store owners around the U.S. The closely held company generated at least $6.5 billion in revenue and $500 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization in the last 12 months, according to a person familiar with the company’s financial performance. The retailer is worth at least $5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Jetro’s Ebitda margin is almost double that of Costco Wholesale because it doesn’t deliver or extend credit to customers. It also owns most of the land under its stores and sells more perishables. “We are private, we are profitable, and we have fun,” says Kirsh, who has never before appeared on an international wealth ranking. “We just don’t scream about what we do.”