This Is The Best Private Company In FL; 8 Others Ranked By Forbes

Publix Super Markets is the best private company in Florida, and is among eight others from the state that were ranked nationally in Forbes’ recent list of America’s Top Private Companies.

Lakeland-based Publix, which makes $59.7 billion, employs 260,000 people, according to the ranking of 200 private companies released in mid-December. The company, founded in 1930, ranked third nationally.

Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits in Miami also made the top 10, at No. 9 with a revenue of $25 billion.

To qualify for the list, companies had to have had estimated revenue of at least $3 billion in their most recent fiscal year, which was calendar year 2024 for 85 percent of the list members, Forbes said. Some companies had fiscal years that ended in October 2025.

Rounding out the top private companies in Florida and their ranking nationally are:

• JM Family Enterprises, Deerfield Beach, 13th
• Fanatics, Jacksonville, 66th
• Hard Rock International, Davie, 73rd
• Florida Crystals, West Palm Beach, 110th
• Rooms to Go, Seffner, 149th
• Moss and Associates, Fort Lauderdale, 154th
• Crowley, Jacksonville, 167th
• Arthrex, Naples, 181st

There were few surprises at the top of the ranking. Minneapolis-based agriculture giant Cargill, which maintained its top spot for the fifth consecutive year, has been No. 1 for 38 of the 39 years Forbes has published the ranking.

Among 43 other companies in the ranks throughout its history of the list are Wawa, Pennsylvania-based convenience store Wawa (No. 21); Racine, Wisconsin-based cleaning products company SC Johnson (No. 38); Modesto, California-based E&J Gallo Winery (No. 125); and Jacksonville, Florida-based boat parts reseller Crowley Marine (No. 167). Additionally, nearly two-thirds of the companies currently in the ranks have been on the list for a decade, Forbes said.

The 12 newcomers on the list notably include Sam Alton’s OpenAI (No. 155), the San Francisco software company that had an estimated $3.7 billion in 2024 revenue.

» For the full ranking, go to Forbes.

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