In-N-Out’s billionaire heiress says she stood in line for 2 hours to land a job at her own store when she was just a teenager to shake the ‘stigma of being the owner’s kid’ and ‘earn respect’

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In-N-Out’s billionaire heiress says she stood in line for 2 hours to land a job at her own store when she was just a teenager to shake the ‘stigma of being the owner’s kid’ and ‘earn respect’

Lynsi Snyder, heiress to In-N-Out, worked her way up from an entry-level job at the chain to CEO, determined to earn respect on her own merit rather than relying on her family name. Under her leadership, In-N-Out expanded to 400 locations, maintained relatively low price increases despite rising costs, and upheld its deep-rooted California culture, all while Snyder embraced her own unique leadership style.

Lynsi Snyder may have become a billionaire on her 35th birthday, but the In-N-Out heiress was aways determined to earn her 

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 by gaining the respect of her peers.

Snyder took on the top job at her family’s West Coast chain in 2010 at age 27,

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founded by her grandparents in 1948.

After Snyder’s grandfather, Harry Snyder, died in December 1976, the business was led by his sons Rich and Guy.

However Rich Snyder—Lynsi’s uncle—died in a plane ****** in Orange County in 1993, followed by the death of her father in 1999. At the age of 17, Lynsi Snyder was the last blood relative surviving of

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But the businesswoman, now 42, never wanted to be handed any opportunities courtesy of her surname. So at age 17, she queued up for two hours outside a new In-N-Out restaurant in Redding, Calif., to land a summer job at the chain.

“I think that there’s a stigma that can come with being the owner’s kid,” Snyder

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and Morning News Now last year. “I just wanted to be respected like others, doing it the right way and not having the special treatment.”

Her first job at In-N-Out saw Snyder

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: slicing onions, preparing tomatoes, and separating lettuce leaves. No one knew Snyder’s identity at the store except its manager, the heiress told

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in 2014, ensuring she was treated the same by her colleagues as any other teenager.

In 2025 Snyder’s net worth stands at $7.3 billion,

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, having overseen the opening of the chain’s 400th store and launched in three new states: Colorado, Oregon, and Texas.

More recently the

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when it relocates its headquarters from Irvine, Orange County, and will return to Baldwin Park where the business was founded in the 1940s. The move will take place in 2029.

As part of the move some staff will also be moving to new offices in Tennessee, as the brand seeks to consolidate its western operations and its East Coast operations.

Her family’s painful history is never out of mind for Snyder, a mother of four, she added to NBC: “It really was that family pain and tragedy that really put each leader in its place.”

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In homage to her family, Snyder also oversaw the construction of a replica of In-N-Out’s first-ever restaurant in Baldwin Park, Calif., which opened in 2014.

In the early days of leading the business, Snyder said she struggled to establish her identity within the family-founded behemoth that

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“In the earlier days I actually wore pantsuits, and I did that because I felt like I was supposed to,” Snyder added.

A flick through Snyder’s interviews and

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illustrate the In-N-Out owner is anything but the suit-wearing board executive who keeps her work and home life separate.

A musician and fan of drag racing, Snyder oversaw the formation of In-N-Out’s “company band,” a rock group called .48 Special. The Snyders—right back to Harry—have always been avid fans of California’s car culture and in 2023 began a multiyear partnership with the National Hot Rod Association.

Snyder, now often pictured in heart-shaped sunglasses and plaid flannel shirts, continued: “And then I finally was confident in who I am and who I’m not. You’re going to get judged either way, so you might as well be judged for being who you are.”

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA РFEBRUARY 13: In-N-Out Burger CEO Lynsi Torres, right, gives 18-year employee Barbie Fowler, 70, a hug at the grand opening of the new Rancho Santa Margarita restaurant on Wednesday. ///ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: s.rc.inNout0213 Ð 2/13/13 Ð LEONARD ORTIZ, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Ð Ð Lynsi Torres, the CEO, President, and first granddaughter to In-N-Out will be at the grand opening of the In-In-Out in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.. Torres, the 30-year-old was recently named the youngest female billionaire in the U.S. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

The California institution has also become home to viral meme culture in recent years, courtesy of celebrities grabbing a burger following awards shows and events. Last year, Billions actor Paul Giamatti was

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, with the Golden Globe award he had won that night nestled among his burger and fries.

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and her family have also been known to pop into restaurants, bedecked in designer sunglasses and feathers, while the brand’s burgers have become a

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to the extent that famed director

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When

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last year many restaurants, including burger chains, warned they

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to cover the cost of doing business.

The issue adds to other price pressures for consumers facing

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, continued

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and market disruption as a result of

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At the time Snyder said she didn’t want her company to add to that burden: “I was sitting in VP meetings, going toe-to-toe saying, ‘We can’t raise the prices that much—we can’t,’ because I felt such an

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“When everyone else was taking these jumps, we weren’t,” she noted.

According to an investigation from

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published in 2024, In-N-Out’s price increases following the California wage bill were slimmer than those of others. The cost of its burger, per the Post, increased by 25 cents, while soda increased by five cents.

Other businesses were forced to answer to customers who were unimpressed by their growing prices. In February last year

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, saying during an earnings call: “I think what you’re going to see as you head into 2024 is probably more attention to what I would describe as affordability.

“Eating at home has become more affordable. The battleground is certainly with that low-income consumer.”

Meanwhile at

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, which owns

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, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, CFO Chris Turner told

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the business is “able to serve customers at any part of the economic strata,” with new customers trading down from more expensive chains to Yum’s more budget-friendly alternatives.

A version of this story originally published on

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on April 11, 2024.

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