Chicago’s Hot Dog King Dick Portillo On Selling Out And Moving On

Forbes

Dick Portillo opened a hot dog stand in Chicago with $1,100 and built it into a billion-dollar regional chain, Portillo’s. After cashing out in 2014, he bought back some stores and built a new real estate and restaurant empire—now, he sits back and collects the rent.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2025/09/01/chicagos-hot-dog-king-dick-portillo-on-selling-out-and-moving-on/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Chicago's hot dog king, Dick Portillo, on selling out and moving on.

00:07It's been 11 years since Richard Dick Portillo sold Portillo's, the restaurant chain offering

00:13up Chicago-style hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches that he founded in 1963.

00:19Sitting in the living room of his 9,000-square-foot home in the Chicago suburbs, a short drive away

00:25from the location of the original Portillo's he opened more than 60 years ago, the 85-year-old

00:30former Marine is feeling nostalgic.

00:33He says, quote, I'm sorry I sold.

00:36I didn't owe 10 cents to anybody.

00:39But ultimately, he knew it was the right decision to make.

00:43He says, quote, there were 24 private equity groups that were interested in buying Portillo's.

00:47The timing was right.

00:49Portillo had spent more than five decades building the company from a single hot dog

00:54stand in a 6-by-12-foot trailer without running water into a regional chain so beloved that

01:01the city of Chicago officially declared April 5th, the day it was founded, as Portillo's

01:06Day.

01:07By 2014, the company was bringing in about $300 million in revenues from 38 locations in four

01:13states.

01:14The chain had no debt, and Portillo owned every single restaurant himself.

01:20He cashed out that July, pocketing nearly $1 billion from Boston-based private equity firm

01:25Berkshire Partners.

01:27Suddenly, he found himself with a lot of cash and not much to do.

01:32He negotiated soon after the sale to buy back the land and buildings of 20 Portillo's restaurants

01:37and commissaries in Illinois and Arizona for more than $100 million, locking in 20-year

01:43leases at some of the chain's highest-grossing locations.

01:46The average Portillo's brings in about $7.6 million, more than fast-growing giants such

01:52as Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane's.

01:55Chicago-area locations, where the brand is better known, rake in an average $11 million.

02:01He also stayed on as a consultant through 2021, earning $2 million a year.

02:06He's since reinvested the rest of his proceeds into dozens of different businesses, including

02:12everything from strip malls in the Chicago suburbs and industrial properties in Indiana,

02:17to Houston apartments and spec homes in Naples, Florida.

02:21He's the majority owner of The Boathouse at Disney Springs, America's third-highest-grossing

02:26independent restaurant with $47 million in revenues last year.

02:29He's also an investor in an iconic Chicago steakhouse.

02:34And he's also bought four more Portillo locations, with plans to buy more.

02:40All that, plus his portfolio of bonds, private equity and stocks, plus his homes, jet and

02:45yacht, named Top Dog, has made Portillo richer than ever, worth more than $1 billion, based

02:52on Forbes' estimates.

02:53Still, even with this much success, he readily admits it's a less exciting life than the

02:59days when he was building his first business.

03:02He recalls, quote,

03:03Portillo's was fun.

03:05A lot of work.

03:06My God, the hours and the sacrifices.

03:08I'm sorry I sold.

03:09I was happier.

03:10I'm happy now, but it was more fun.

03:14Born in Chicago to a Greek immigrant mother and a Mexican immigrant father who worked in

03:19factories and sold insurance, Portillo grew up poor in a public housing project.

03:23He wasn't a great student, and seven days after high school graduation in 1957, he enlisted

03:29in the Marines.

03:31After two years at Camp Pendleton in California, he moved back to Chicago and married his high

03:36school sweetheart, Sharon.

03:37Then he got to work, toiling at junkyards and factories, driving trucks, and unloading boxcars,

03:43while Sharon worked as a waitress.

03:46But with one child and another on the way, Portillo wanted to turn his life around.

03:51Noticing how many hot dog stands littered Chicago's streets, he decided to set up his own, but in

03:56the suburbs, where there was much less competition.

04:00He opened his first stand in the suburb of Villa Park in 1963.

04:04Then 23 years old, he convinced his wife to pour their life savings of $1,100, about $11,600

04:12today, into the business, which he named, quote, the Dog House.

04:17His brother, Frank, put in an equal amount, but Portillo bought him out four months later.

04:23Portillo knew nothing about restaurants or hot dogs, so he stalked rival spots to figure

04:27out where they bought their meat, buns, and condiments.

04:30And eventually, the business started growing.

04:33Sales doubled each year, and by 1967, he moved to a brick-and-mortar building and renamed

04:38the business, Portillo's.

04:41For full coverage, check out Giacomo Taguini's piece on Forbes.com.

04:47This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:49Thanks for tuning in.

04:51Thanks for tuning in.

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