byline: Virginia Business

Since taking the reins at the candy and pet food giant in September 2022, Weihrauch has been aiming to double its sales by 2033. In service to that expansion, Mars acquired six candy and veterinary companies in 2023 and 2024. These include Hotel Chocolat, the United Kingdom’s largest chocolate maker, and ownership stakes in Cerba Vet, a network of veterinary diagnostics labs in France, and Antagene, which provides DNA testing for animals.

With $50 billion in sales in 2023, Mars is the largest privately held company in Virginia and the fourth largest in the nation, with approximately 150,000 employees worldwide. Mars is best known for candy brands like M&Ms, Snickers and 3 Musketeers produced through its Mars Snacking division, but its Mars Petcare veterinary care and pet foods branch accounted for about 60% of the company’s 2023 revenue.

In August, Mars entered into a $35.9 billion deal to purchase Kellanova, the maker of Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, Pringles, Eggo and other food brands. Kellanova was created in October 2023 after Kellogg’s split into two companies, spinning off its cereal division as W.K. Kellogg Co.

Weihrauch joined Mars in 2000 as European brand leader for Snickers, and eventually became president of food and multisales, then president of Mars’ global
pet care brand.

Weihrauch has an MBA from Denmark’s Aalborg University and a master’s degree from Scotland’s Strathclyde Business School. In April, he joined the board of German multinational chemical and consumer goods company Henkel AG & Co.

In September 2023, Hall tasked Bob McGonigal, TFI International executive vice president, with helping turn around TFI’s U.S. less-than-truckload operation, which saw an operating ratio downturn last year, from 99% to 90.1%. TForce, previously owned by UPS, was purchased by Montreal-based TFI in 2021 for $800 million, and lost revenue in the past two years.

However, business appears to be looking up, with Alain Bédard, TFI’s chairman, president and CEO, saying in the first-quarter earning announcement in March that its U.S. LTL business has made ‘notable advancements. Through strong execution, we’ve reached an important inflection point in our turnaround of TForce Freight … resulting in revenue per shipment before fuel surcharge increasing 12%.’

Hall previously served as regional director of operations in Greenville, South Carolina, as well as regional vice president in Los Angeles.

A Virginia Commonwealth University graduate, Hall began his career in trucking after he graduated from high school, working at Overnite, which was purchased by UPS in 2005.

A Hampton Roads native, Breit is known for representing plaintiffs in high-profile personal injury cases.

In recent months, Breit’s name frequently has shown up in news articles for being part of the legal team representing Abby Zwerner, the Newport News elementary school teacher shot by a 6-year-old student in January 2023. In November, a Newport News Circuit Court judge gave Zwerner the go-ahead to proceed with a $40 million lawsuit against Newport News Public Schools.

In 2010, a federal judge appointed Breit to the 15-lawyer plaintiff steering committee for the consolidated BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill lawsuits. Breit oversaw the case against Halliburton, which settled its portion for $1.24 billion. Alabama also retained Breit as one of its attorneys and recovered $1 billion.

Breit also represented plaintiffs in Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia in a decadelong national lawsuit against Chinese drywall manufacturer Taishan Gypsum Co., which settled for $248 million in 2019.

In 2022, Breit Cantor Grana Buckner split into two firms: Breit Biniazan and Cantor Grana Buckner Bucci. Breit and Kevin Biniazan reportedly wanted to practice national cases, while the others  preferred to focus on Virginia lawsuits.

Under Bywater’s leadership since 2021, the 49-year-old Kings Dominion theme park continues to seek out new concepts and ideas to entice and excite guests. The 400-acre amusement park is home to more than 60 rides, shows and attractions, including 13 roller coasters and Soak City, a 20-acre waterpark.

The latest thrill is a new ride, “Rapterra,” coming in 2025 for KD’s 50th anniversary. Announced in July, the 3,086-foot, 145-foot-tall Rapterra will be the world’s longest, tallest launched wing roller coaster, with riders suspended over either side of the track.

This year, Kings Dominion also announced the addition of a Food & Wine Festival to its 2024 season events, as well as a new Tricks and Treats fall event.

Bywater worked at Cedar Fair Entertainment, Kings Dominion’s former parent company, for 24 years prior to coming to Hanover. In July, Cedar Fair was acquired by Six Flags Entertainment in a $2 billion deal, creating a merged Six Flags with 27 amusement parks,
15 water parks and nine resort properties.

Known as “The Rock,” Johnson shot to fame as a professional wrestler and is now one of the nation’s most popular and prolific movie and TV actors. He’s also been a relatively quiet resident of Virginia for several years, he acknowledged on social media posts in 2019. Johnson owns a horse farm in Orange County that serves as a retreat from Hollywood.

In addition to his movie career — including the “Fast & Furious” and “Jumanji” franchises — Johnson is a co-owner of the United Football League, a spring pro football league that started in 2024 after the merger of the United States Football League and the XFL. His business partner and ex-wife, Dany Garcia, runs their production company, Seven Bucks Productions, which produces TV shows and movies, including the “Young Rock” and “Ballers” TV series and a forthcoming remake of “Big Trouble in Little China.”

Although Johnson’s known for his comedy and action movie career, in 2023 he made headlines for his philanthropy, making a seven-figure gift to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation during the writers’ and actors’ strike — a sum that SAG-AFTRA Chairman and President Courtney B. Vance declared was the largest single donation in the organization’s history.

Born in West Bromwich, England, Patel relocated to the United States in 1982. He earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1992, but his entrepreneurial spirit led him in a different direction. He opened a Sleep Inn in Richmond in 1996 with his parents’ support, and Kalyan Hospitality was born.

Kalyan, which operates hotels under several brands, including Hilton, Marriott International, and InterContinental Hotels Group, owns more than 30 hotels. It added to its footprint in Virginia in early 2024 by acquiring two hotels in Roanoke and two in Farmville. In addition to hotels under development here, it is also developing properties in Oregon and Washington state. The company, which also provides hospitality management services, has diversified into apartments and student housing.

Virginia’s most notable political pundit, Sabato is the founding director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, breaking ground on a $10 million expansion.

Widely quoted by national media, Sabato’s Crystal Ball newsletter, which handicaps political races, has maintained a high accuracy rate, although its prediction of a 2016 Hillary Clinton win forced Sabato and staff to admit they “blew it.” Following President Joe Biden’s departure from the 2024 race, Sabato said Democrats had been “headed for disaster” with Biden, but he hasn’t made a prediction whether Vice President Kamala Harris can prevail against former President Donald Trump.

Sabato serves on the advisory board for U.Va.’s Karsh Institute of Democracy and is a New York Times bestselling author and four-time Emmy winner.

HOW I CHOSE MY CAREER: Well, it was the only thing I was good at!

MOVIE I’D RECOMMEND: “The Fog of War”

IF I HAD A TIME MACHINE, I’D MEET: It’s a tie between Thomas Jefferson and John F. Kennedy.

In July, BDO USA tapped Ellenbogen as its new chief operating officer, making him responsible for every business aspect of the U.S. member firm of BDO International, the fifth largest global accounting network.

A member of BDO USA’s board of directors, he has chaired the firm’s governance committee and was a key player in establishing its employee stock ownership plan. Ellenbogen oversees the firm’s operational units, international liaison program and strategies related to innovation and mergers and acquisitions. He works closely with Wayne Berson, BDO’s Washington, D.C.-based Global Board chairman and CEO of BDO USA.

With more than 30 years of public accounting experience — 22 of them at BDO — Ellenbogen previously was office managing partner of the BDO Greater Washington, D.C., assurance practice and the firm’s Atlantic Assurance regional managing partner. BDO USA posted $2.82 billion in 2023 revenue; BDO Global revenues exceeded $14 billion.

An alum of the University of Cape Town, Ellenbogen also serves on the boards of the Northern Virginia Technology Council and First Tee of Greater Washington, D.C. and is an executive committee member for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night fundraising campaign.

Head of one of the country’s largest regional Realtor associations, McLaughlin came to NVAR in 2015 after serving the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors in Pennsylvania for more than a decade.

This year, McLaughlin was named to T3 Sixty’s 11th annual Swanepoel Power 200 rankings of the nation’s top real estate executives, marking the first time a Virginia real estate association leader made it onto the SP 200 list.

He has degrees from East Stroudsburg University and the State University of New York at Albany and completed an executive education program, Authentic Leader Development, at Harvard Business School. McLaughlin also serves on the board of directors for SentriLock.

NVAR represents 13,000-plus real estate professionals and some 180 service providers,
with 2023 sales exceeding $16 billion. The association offers continuing education for members, reports on home sales in the region and residential sales forecasts.

In June, at its third annual Evolution Tech Showcase, the association showcased AI tools and technologies.