Retail 2024: WARREN THOMPSON

Thompson’s start as an entrepreneur came as a teen, when he purchased and ran his family’s hog farm in Windsor. He now heads the largest minority-owned food and facilities management corporation in the nation, which he founded in 1992 with the purchase of 31 Bob’s Big Boy restaurants.

Thompson Hospitality provides dining services for more than 200 companies, universities and hospitals, representing more than $2 billion in business. The company also owns several restaurant chains, including Milk & Honey, Matchbox and Wiseguy Pizza, running about 70 restaurants. In late 2023, the company launched the Thompson Restaurants division, which is Thompson Hospitality’s fastest-growing business. According to media reports, the division is expected to bring in more than $200 million in 2024.

Thompson graduated from Hampden-Sydney College and University of Virginia’s business school. Attending U.Va. was particularly meaningful, considering that racial segregation prevented his father, Fred Thompson Sr., from attending the school decades earlier.

Thompson is a member of the American Heart Association CEO Roundtable and sits on Performance Food Group’s board of directors.

In February, Thompson bought Wildersmoor House, a 17-acre equestrian estate in Great Falls, for $14.75 million.