Executive Spotlight: Sardar Biglari, Chairman and CEO of Biglari Holdings (2027)

Current role and company

Biglari Holdings' website and its annual report on Form 10-K for 2025 describe Biglari as the company's founder, chairman and chief executive, and say he makes all major investment and capital allocation decisions for the company and its subsidiaries. The company's executive offices are at 19100 Ridgewood Parkway in San Antonio. Titles are as reported in those sources and may have changed since.

• CompanyBiglari Holdings Inc., San Antonio, Texas; Class A (BH.A) and Class B (BH) shares listed on the NYSE.
• TitleFounder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (company website; 10-K for 2025).
• SubsidiariesSteak n Shake, Western Sizzlin, First Guard Insurance, Southern Pioneer Property & Casualty, Southern Oil Company, Abraxas Petroleum and Maxim (company website).
• Business linesRestaurants, property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, oil and gas, and brand licensing and media (10-K).

Career path

• Late 1990s. As a Trinity University student, Biglari co-founded the dial-up internet provider INTX Networking, which was sold in 1999, according to Fortune (September 2025).
• Early 2000s. He founded the Lion Fund, an investment partnership. Biglari Capital is the general partner of the Lion Fund and Lion Fund II, per the company's 10-K.
• 2006. After building a stake in Western Sizzlin, he became its chairman, per Fortune.
• 2008. He won a proxy contest at Steak n Shake and was named CEO in August 2008 (Fortune; Indianapolis Business Journal, 2010).
• 2010. The public company was renamed Biglari Holdings, per Fortune and IBJ.
• 2014 to 2022. Biglari Holdings added Maxim (2014), First Guard Insurance (2014), Southern Oil of Louisiana (2019), Southern Pioneer (2020) and a majority stake in Abraxas Petroleum (2022), per Fortune.

What he is known for

• Running a holding company around capital allocation. The 10-K says Biglari makes all major investment and capital allocation decisions, while operations are run in a decentralized way.
• Steak n Shake. He has led the burger chain since 2008. The 2025 10-K reports 131 company-operated, 179 franchise-partner and 94 traditional franchise units at December 31, 2025.
• Western Sizzlin. The steakhouse brand he once chaired is now a subsidiary, with 3 company-operated and 28 franchise units at the same date.
• A diversified portfolio. Beyond restaurants, the company owns insurance, oil and gas and brand-licensing businesses.
• Activist investing. Biglari has run public campaigns as a shareholder at other restaurant companies. Fortune (September 2025) describes several, including multiple board contests at Cracker Barrel between 2011 and 2024; outcomes varied and the company and Biglari have described them differently.

Leadership style and philosophy

The company's 10-K describes its approach this way: "Biglari Holdings' management system combines decentralized operations with centralized financial decision-making." The company's annual report includes a yearly letter to shareholders from Biglari, which is the primary place to read his views in his own words. This page does not claim a wider philosophy than these statements.

Key numbers

Company-reported figures, each with its period.

• Dec 31, 2025435 Steak n Shake and Western Sizzlin restaurants, company-operated and franchise (10-K).
• Dec 31, 2025 (book value)Book value per Class A equivalent share of $2,059.32 (company release, February 28, 2026).
• Dec 31, 2025 (staff)2,359 employees (10-K).
• Q2 2026Steak n Shake same-store sales for domestic company-operated and franchise-partner restaurants up 13.8% (company release, August 7, 2026).
• Q2 2026 (earnings)Net earnings of $39.9 million for the quarter, including $45.3 million of pre-tax investment gains; pre-tax operating earnings were $6.3 million (company release, August 7, 2026).

Questions people ask

Sources

• Biglari Holdings: company website · Titles, subsidiaries, address, news releases
• Biglari Holdings: news releases · Links to the 2026 earnings and annual report releases
• Biglari Holdings news release, August 7, 2026 (Q2 2026 results) · Q2 2026 earnings and Steak n Shake same-store sales
• Biglari Holdings news release, February 28, 2026 (2025 annual report) · Book value per share at December 31, 2025
• SEC: Biglari Holdings Form 10-K for 2025 · Business lines, restaurant counts, employees, management system
• Fortune: Sardar Biglari's war against Cracker Barrel (Sep 2025) · Career timeline, acquisitions; hero photo whose caption names Biglari
• Indianapolis Business Journal: As Sardar Biglari stirs controversy, Steak n Shake hums along (Sep 2010) · August 2008 CEO appointment, renaming to Biglari Holdings

Facts were read from the linked pages on November 1, 2026. Titles and counts are as of the dates shown and may have changed. The hero photo is the Fortune photo credited to Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times; its caption on the Fortune page reads "Sardar Biglari, chairman of Biglari Holdings and CEO of Steak 'n Shake, at an opening of one of his restaurants in New York, Jan. 12, 2012." It was cropped to him alone and shown on a blurred background to fit the page format. This page covers public professional information only.

Top photo: Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times, via Fortune (fortune.com)