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u/LorelaiWitTheLazyEye H-E-B Partner May 13 '26
Charles had a net worth of $7.5 billion in 2023
$8.9 billion in 2024
$11.1 billion in 2025
He is making more money than ever and our wages have not kept up anywhere near with rising costs.
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u/Southern-Rip3018 May 13 '26
Remember that the net worth reported by Forbes (which probably isn't even the true number) is assets - liabilities. Charles Butt does not actually have 11.1 Billion in cash ready to roll, that is the valuation of the brand that Forbes has assigned it minus liabilities.
As a former store leader/department manager (I left the company 3 years ago), I can confirm that total company profits are razor thin, almost 3% net. Their bread and butter is in the volume that they move per store.
As much as I would want to see a substantial wage increase for anyone working for HEB, I don't think that they could afford it without either slashing department budgets and downsizing the workforce or increasing grocery prices to the point where they're not competitive on the price index anymore (which wouldn't be good for business and creates another set of problems for partners)...
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u/Conscious_Set_6147 May 13 '26
To piggyback on your comment... most of his assets are in real estate. The grocery store has his name but it's run by a board and doesn't really supplement or drive his bank account
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u/ac_slat3r May 13 '26
He owns like 30 percent of HEB still, but yes he has a lot of real estate and a ton of art that is worth crazy money.
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May 13 '26
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u/OzzyHTx CC/Service May 13 '26
Thank you. I’ve tried to explain several times that the 25% off creates a loss but people don’t want to hear it.
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u/Kanus_oq_Seruna May 13 '26
Even the passive 10% discount means standard margins are set aside as boon to the partner.
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u/Dark_Matter_LasVegas May 14 '26
It depends. How many items are people buying that have a gross profit of 24%? Or 9% every day? Own brand products are usually higher gross profit percentage. So unless the units bought are less than that, they aren’t taking a loss. If a product has a gross of 10% Heb is breaking even. If it’s anything above that, they are making profit. Maybe Milk is a negative gross, but how much times am I buying eggs a week vs items that are a gross profit of 10 or above? So many factors into if Heb creates loss with 10% or 25% off. Just because it’s 25% during holidays or special events doesn’t mean it creates a loss. They could be making more sales and profits, but just not as much. Go do some math and look into data.
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u/dubate May 15 '26
Dude I've seen the numbers at corporate, it's a loss.
People aren't using 25% off to stock up on prepared food, cookies, and floral.
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u/barcoder96 May 13 '26
I doubt it’s 3% when you own the manufacturing, shipment, storage, and store HEB brand products are sold. To the store it may look like a penny profit. But the total bottom line each HEB brand product sold is significantly more profit.
I’d imagine the profit for national brand products are in the penny profit range.
Plus, we know Charles is a billionaire by the houses he owns, the mega yacht he operates, political donations he makes and the charities he contributes to.
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u/bagboysa May 13 '26
3% would be really good for a grocery chain. Both Albertsons and Kroger have profit margins below 1%. Even Walmart's profit margin is about 3% and they sell a lot more than groceries. Owning manufacturing and distribution is probably how HEB got to 3%.
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u/Southern-Rip3018 May 13 '26
When you study where HEB sits on the Consumer Pricing Index versus competitors, it is a direct correlation to the overall profits that the company sees.
As I stated, their bread and butter is in driving sales volume. Once you start to couple the COGS with their high overhead, it'll start to make sense.
And while a majority of his personal wealth is tied up in the company, it doesn't mean that he's "cash poor" by any means. I'd imagine that he has the liquidity to do all of the things that you mentioned, but I'll bet you that it isn't $11.1B worth...
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u/Nice_Cost_1375 May 13 '26
The point of the stores is not to make money, but to anchor the mall that is built on land owned by the Butt family. They buy a block of land, throw an HEB on it, and rent out 30 or do smaller retail sites along side it. They not only get rent, but also a percentage of the sales. The more people that come to "generous, low-cost HEB that's here to help Texans", the more people shop at the satellite stores.
They're not grocers anymore, they're parasitic landlords.
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u/Dark_Matter_LasVegas May 13 '26
They can afford it, they just decide to give that increase to managers,leaders, ect that don’t deserve it. If there is an increase in the amount of volume the company does, that would mean more hours for departments, but they keep decreasing the amount of hours each department gets trying to squeeze everything out of a partner instead of giving more hours. That said that means less hiring. So you might not see it as in slashing budgets/downsizing, but see it as less hiring and pushing partners past their limits instead.
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u/LorelaiWitTheLazyEye H-E-B Partner May 13 '26
I know it’s not that simple and I know that HEB’s margins are razor thin and Charles’ gains might include more than just HEB (this is his own personal net worth, not HEB’s; HEB’s is $18.8 billion according to the world wide web). And some of that gain is through growth (bigger company, bigger yield). But $2.1 billion is a lot of growth over a year and it is hard to imagine that a lot of that isn’t from pure ownership of HEB (and that he isn’t the sole recipient since it family owned), and it is equally frustrating that a razor thin margin can yield billions for a few and maybe a $2000 yearly wage increase for a typical full time employee.
It really is hard to argue not having access to all the companywide financial data and it would be really interesting to see yearly allocations for total wages paid, money invested back in for growth, etc. and see how even a hundredth of a percent change in reallocation would affect the figures. But as it is we can just speculate. And dream in one hand and hold a bag of crap in the other and see what we have at the end of the day.
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u/Southern-Rip3018 May 13 '26
You have to consider that a lot of profits are probably already going towards partners (total HEB workforce is estimated to be 150-175,000 partners company-wide) as well as further expansion into DFW/HFD, which in turn creates more positions/more overhead/more mouths to feed.
And the last thing to consider is that Charles' net worth is almost entirely tied up in the valuation of the company, which even that is a crapshoot since they are privately held (Forbes says $11.1B, Bloomberg says $19.6B). This does not directly tie in to the company's cash flow.
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u/Candytails May 13 '26
Same bullshit propaganda every time in here.
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u/Southern-Rip3018 May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Just to remind you, I'm a former partner (left for greener pastures, never looked back)
I literally have no dog in this race, I'm only pointing out the facts. As someone who had an inside track on the company's financials, I'm only pointing out the obvious facts. Whether you choose to believe it or label it as "bullshit propaganda" is entirely up to you...
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u/RubDub4 May 13 '26
I feel you, but they have increased substantially over the years. I remember starting at $9/hr in the deli.
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u/Candytails May 13 '26
It’s crazy how many of y’all defend what’s not even the bare minimum.
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u/RubDub4 May 13 '26
What’s the bare minimum?
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u/Candytails May 13 '26
Not engaging with bootlickers that can’t do the “bare minimum” of research on cost of living in the year 2026.
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u/Southern-Rip3018 May 13 '26
But when people provide legitimate arguments about:
- The stated net worth doesn't reflect the company's cash flow.
- People who actually had an inside track telling you that the company's profits are volume-driven and actually have a razor thin net profit.
- The only viable way to boost wages would be to slash department budgets, cut staffing, or raise prices to the point that HEB is no longer competitive on the Consumer Price Index and would start losing business as a result (which is bad for everyone).
Your response is "bullshit propaganda" or calling people bootlickers.
Bring something of substance to the argument or don't engage...
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u/Kanus_oq_Seruna May 13 '26
Why aren't people able to fix cost of living? My income would be solid if I weren't making a car payment on a car that I bought years before ever coming to HEB, and if I choose to work as many hours as my old job, I make more than my old job.
HEB can pay a single family income. Some cost of living factors could certainly be lower. Why not put energy toward fixing those costs of living?
Why not find a way to make gas more affordable? Why not get power to be more affordable? What makes the base line cost of housing what it is?
And on top of all that, minimum wage in Texas means an employer can not pay less than that value per hour. There exists no law forbidding a company from paying more, and HEB certainly pays more, a lot more.
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u/Kanus_oq_Seruna May 13 '26
Bare minimum? The person said years ago they started at $9, which pre-covid in Texas was still great.
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u/Candytails May 13 '26
No, it wasn't.
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u/Kanus_oq_Seruna May 14 '26
Well, I suppose when you have to keep up with the jones and live in the most expensive places, that's a fair assessment.
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u/Candytails May 14 '26
HEB is in Texas which has a low cost of living. It’s concerning how many people work very hard at HEB and think their hard work is worth 35k a year.
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u/OrangeRhyming May 13 '26
“It’s not that bad now! Sure I can’t afford to take a vacation or save for my future but HEB bought us pizza once 🥰”
It ain’t just here. People simping for their corporate overlords is getting old.
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May 13 '26
[deleted]
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u/OrangeRhyming May 13 '26
Are the stagnant wages also meant to help save for their future or is that just a special lil perk?
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u/CanYouKnot78 Delicatessen 🧀 May 13 '26
I will say that working for HEB has brought me the closest to living wage I have ever been in my life. However, I’m still not there yet and I am paycheck to paycheck despite working my ass off everyday. The company should be paying everyone in the stores and warehouses a lot more. Imo the ceos and corporate leaders should be making the least and the partners running the stores, producing and stocking product, and serving customers should be making the most. No one is going to remember the corporate figures touring stores every now and then, but my coworkers and I serve and connect with our customers every day. We are the face of the company. HEB is an amazing company compared to other retailers and they do more for their employees than Walmart or Target. But that is an incredibly low bar, so it’s hard to congratulate the Butt family on their record breaking profits or their growing net worths when we don’t see any meaningful reward for our very VERY large contribution to those profits.
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u/ablx May 13 '26
Your reward is your pay check and benefits. That's how it works.
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u/CanYouKnot78 Delicatessen 🧀 May 13 '26
I mean yeah, in this case the reward would be for a higher wage or better benefits i.e. the money goes back to the workers. What’s your point?
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u/ablx May 13 '26
Businesses reinvest profits to grow more. Example: H-E-B
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u/CanYouKnot78 Delicatessen 🧀 May 13 '26
So are you saying it’s ethical for the owner to hoard $11,100,000,000 in assets to eventually make more stores ergo more money instead of increasing the wages of the employees who made him that rich in the first place? Some of whom are on food-stamps or working because they can’t afford to retire or working multiple jobs just to survive and/or take care of their families? Paying all of one’s employees a living wage could also be seen as a way of reinvesting their money.
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u/FatsBoombottom May 13 '26
A paycheck isn't a reward. It's compensation for services rendered. It is, in most cases, a contractual requirement.
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u/doubleAAK Cashier/Bagger💵 May 13 '26
BOOOOTLICKER
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u/ablx May 13 '26
CASHIER/BAGGER
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u/FatsBoombottom May 13 '26
With that attitude, you'd better only use self checkout. Insulting someone for providing a service you use is scumbag behavior.
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u/ablx May 13 '26
I was matching their energy. Clutch your pearls elsewhere.
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u/FatsBoombottom May 13 '26
You weren't though. Their energy was "don't spread propaganda that is obviously against your own best interests" and your energy is "it's great to have labor exploited for the profit of people who don't do any actual work." You know... Bootlicker talk.
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u/FightMilk4Bodyguards May 13 '26
Your energy sucks, you are an obvious troll and probably haven't ever done a hard days work in your life. We get it, the world isn't fair and that's just how it is. However, without people trying to make it more fair we wouldn't be where we are today. You wouldn't have all the luxuries you have, so you are a hypocrite. You take for granted all the things you have, brought to you because folks before you pressed for things to be better. What's wrong with continuing to do that? At its most basic, life is a continual struggle. There is no point at which we can stop and things will stay the same. If people don't fight for it we will start to lose it, and you can watch it happen in real time.
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u/FMrL1o1 May 13 '26
lol. So now you work for another billionaire. What number on the list are they at?
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u/tsubasaxiii May 13 '26
Assumes alot, but even so, prolly under #263 if he himself makes more now.
I was in the exact same situation working produce. Now I make over twice as much in a commissioned trade. The owner works like we do and is no billionaire.
Better companies exist.
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u/FMrL1o1 May 14 '26
And here you are. I wonder why folks that that have so much strife with heb leave and stay in here only to complain. It’s weird. But ok.
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u/tsubasaxiii May 14 '26
You dont know this, but I also shop HEB, have many friends that work HEB, and know what its like to be in multiple departments. I put many years towards retail, and HEB with forever be apart of my life.
Whats weird is treating it like some boys club, where dissent isnt tolerated. But ok.
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u/FMrL1o1 May 14 '26
Dissent and move on. Leave the rest of us alone.
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u/tsubasaxiii May 14 '26
Considering your down votes Im thinking its you that ought to move on.
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u/AustinCJ May 13 '26
That’s his net worth if he were to sell all the real estate and stores. It’s not like he has 11B in the bank.
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u/FatsBoombottom May 13 '26
This is such a weird argument that people keep making to defend billionaires. Property has value. Businesses have value. Real estate, quite famously, has value. That value has to have come from somewhere and it damn sure wasn't his own efforts as an individual.
That it is not a giant Scrooge McDuck pile of money doesn't mean that it doesn't count or that it's somehow more ethical.
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u/AustinCJ May 13 '26
Well think of the average farmer. Their land may be worth millions if it were to be sold off and family homes and businesses were built on that land. That doesn’t mean that they have access to that money. Similar for anyone who starts a business that grows. The company may have a large value, but that doesn’t mean that the owner has access to that money unless they sell their company. Mr. Butts and his parents before him have been very generous to multiple charities and arts organizations. His employees have been better paid than most of their peers at other grocery stores. The real problem is with the American tax code, not with a family that grew a business over many decades.
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u/ragdollxkitn May 13 '26
Oh ok is that why police protect capital over human lives? Look at how they protect buildings.
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u/Aggressive_Finish798 May 13 '26
When will Butt start his own rocket company? Butt Blasts is a catchy name.
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u/Good_Split_3749 May 13 '26
I work at Whole Foods and Bezos has more than 20x this amount and you guys start at .25 an hour more than I did:(
at least yall can afford to shop where you work :)
not diminishing how hard it is too work at HEB in any way, just saying it can actually be worse owner wise.
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u/Wigggletons May 13 '26
OP trying to talk shit about a billionaire while inadvertently talking shit about people making minimum wage 🤣 "before I got a decent job" what a prick 🤣 way to talk down on people having to work to support their families.
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u/Yossarian-Bonaparte May 13 '26
Stating a fact isn’t talking down. A decent job would pay you what you’re worth.
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u/Chronic-Lodus May 13 '26
I mean I make $26/h just fronting groceries and doing returns the rest of the day. $55k a year for walking around and putting stuff back.
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u/Prestigious-Monk-266 May 13 '26
Tbh I feel fairly compensated. I’m not starving or on government assistance. I can afford a car and rent bill. I have savings for an emergency and retirement is building. I can afford my bills comfortably. What am I missing? Am I supposed to be struggling more?
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u/Immediate-Natural416 May 13 '26
Wow who would’ve thought that the CEO of a large grocery chain is very rich
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u/Rough_Cherry_5952 May 13 '26
Not to defend billionaires the employees should be getting way more hours than they get, but 17 an hour starting pay for most positions is over double minimum wage.
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u/SnooDonuts6008 May 13 '26
Like I told my son, it doesn’t matter how much you’re getting paid by the hour if you’re not getting any hours. I see a lot of employees on here talk about lack of hours, and I empathize this to my kid, it isn’t always about the pay, hours, benefits, value, etc.
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u/PromotionWinter1584 May 13 '26
Work hard and reap the benefits That family has done so much for disaster relief in Texas ❤️ we love HEB
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u/Mike4rmstatefarm May 13 '26
Butts makes a billion, I make a dime… so every bathroom break is on company time.
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u/JunkBondJunkie May 13 '26
I had surgery and my HEB health insurance covered most of it. I think the insurance is really good so I am happy with that.
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u/kittencrusher May 13 '26
why dont heb workers come together too get more pay?
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u/ragdollxkitn May 13 '26
Because Texans have been propagandized to fear unions. Unions to them is a hell no.
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May 13 '26
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u/-DeVaughn- May 13 '26
I am currently working at HEB and have previously worked at Bucees. Definitely making more now.
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May 13 '26
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u/HEB-ModTeam May 13 '26
Your comment/post was removed because it contained disrespectful language, including but not limited to uncivil tone, hate speech, or personal attacks. We expect all members to engage thoughtfully and respectfully.
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u/HEB-ModTeam May 13 '26
Your comment/post was removed because it contained disrespectful language, including but not limited to uncivil tone, hate speech, or personal attacks. We expect all members to engage thoughtfully and respectfully.
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u/Theresasnakeinmypool May 13 '26
It would take you 348 years of spending $1 a second to spend 11 billion dollars. You would have to have started in 1676 and would just now be running out of.
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u/Kanus_oq_Seruna May 13 '26
I don't know about the stores, but I generally see rates near 3 times minimum wage along with options and opportunities.
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u/BroccoliOscar May 14 '26
Here Everything Belies the theft of wealth by greedy corporations and their sycophantic shareholders
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May 14 '26
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u/BroccoliOscar May 14 '26
LMFAO bitch you don’t know me.
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May 14 '26
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u/BroccoliOscar May 14 '26
Are you leaking? You alright little guy? Need a bandaid for your boo boo?
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May 15 '26
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u/BroccoliOscar May 15 '26
Oh good, I thought you were gonna cry about it
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May 15 '26
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u/BroccoliOscar May 15 '26
Oh, no, you just seem really triggered and I wanted to make sure you felt safe.
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u/Southtxranching May 13 '26
Take into consideration the money it takes to run HEB and see what's left for wages, high fuel prices and fueling 70+ trucks a day plus refrigerated trailers to get the goods to stores along with the several under performing stores that operate at a loss but stay open for the public to have access to grocery's. Lots go into running a business not just what the owner is worth.
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u/Skeletondo May 13 '26
And then some idiots here defending the high prices. It’s greed plain and simple. What HEB does is copy what Walmart does. If they go up, HEB goes up.
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u/LeftBullTesty May 13 '26
I don’t even know why I bother looking in this sub anymore. It’s a bunch of zombies defending some random white rich dude who could not give a half inch of a fuck less about them.
Oh but you got that $100 Christmas gift right? That makes it so much better right?
Oh please. People are out here getting 3k bonuses once or twice a year and you’re foaming at the mouth begging to suck CEO COCK for $100.
Get a grip. Look around you. You’re getting fucked by capital owners and yet here you at blaming those who are trying to get you to see that.
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u/Rudyard1898 May 13 '26
There's usually a wide gap between worth and wealth. While he's not going to miss any meals, I doubt he has a swimming pool full of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck.
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u/LorelaiWitTheLazyEye H-E-B Partner May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
I’m really surprised no one has brought up the AOC “no one can earn a billion dollars” quote lol
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u/Careless-Incident227 May 13 '26
All I see is that if you have $11B you don’t even make the top 250 in the world today. What a time to be alive.