Steve Ells
$1.0B
Born
Sep 12, 1965
Age
60
Source of Wealth
Chipotle
Residence
New York, New York
Citizenship
United States
Marital Status
Children
0
Education
Diploma, Culinary Institute of America; Bachelor of Arts, University of Colorado - Boulder
- Steve Ells helped pioneer fast-casual dining as the founder of Chipotle.
- After studying at the Culinary Institute of America, Ells opened the first Chipotle in Denver, Colorado in 1993.
- He hoped to use the profits to fund a fine dining restaurant, but Chipotle was so successful he ended up expanding to a second store in 1995 and a third in 1996.
- Today, Chipotle sells $11.3 billion worth of burritos, bowls and salads each year across 3,700 stores around the world.
- Ells stepped down as CEO in 2018 and as executive chairman in 2020.
- He opened a new restaurant concept, a robot-manned "restaurant of the future" named Kernel, in New York City in 2024.
- Ells sold big chunks of Chipotle to McDonald's beginning in 1998 to help the brand expand. By the time Chipotle went public in 2006, he owned less than 4%.
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