This Is The Best Private Company In IL; 10 Others Ranked By Forbes

Rosemont-based Reyes Holdings is the best private company in Illinois, and is among ten others from the state that were ranked nationally in Forbes’ recent list of America’s Top Private Companies.

Reyes Holdings, an American food and beverage distributor, employs 36,000 people and had revenue of $44 billion in its most recent year, according to the ranking of 200 private companies released in mid-December. The company, founded in 1976, ranked sixth nationally.

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. Other companies had fiscal years that ended in October 2025.

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

• Mount Sterling-based Dot Foods, a food redistributor, employs 4,000 people and is ranked second in the state and 42nd nationally. The company was founded in 1960, and had $11.4 billion in revenue.
• Urbana-based Flex-N-Gate — a manufacturer of metal and plastic original equipment components and mechanical assemblies for companies in the automobile industry —is ranked third in the state and 54th nationally. The company brings in $9.25 billion in revenue and was founded in 1956.
• Kirkland & Ellis was founded in 1909 and came in at No. 4 in the state and No. 56 in the nation on Forbes list. The Chicago-based law firm has $8.8 billion in revenue.
• Coming in at No. 5 in the state, Aurora-based OSI Group, which has 20,000 employees, is a holding company of meat processors that service the retail and food service industries. OSI Group ranked 64th nationally and was founded in 1909.

Other companies to rank in the top ten in Illinois include Park Ridge-based Koch Foods; and Amsted Industries, Walsh Group, Baker McKenzie and Sidley Austin, all of which are Chicago companies,

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

• Forbes Names 20 Colleges ‘New Ivies,’ Says Employers Prefer Them