In-N-Out billionaire CEO: We're not moving' HQ out of California

Lynsi Snyder, the billionaire owner and president of California-based burger chain In-N-Out Burger, says her company isn't moving its corporate headquarters to Tennessee — it's merely opening a new office there.

“We're not moving In-N-Out Burger's corporate headquarters,” Snyder, 43, said on Monday. “We're not leaving California, or leaving our roots behind. Each one of our locations is here to stay.”

Snyder's comments came three days after an interview she gave on the “Relatable” podcast, where she spoke about her family's impending move to Tennessee. “There are a lot of great things about California, but raising a family is not easy here,” Snyder, who has four children, said on the podcast. “Doing business is not easy here.”

Snyder's grandparents founded the popular burger chain in 1948 in Baldwin Park, California. Some initial reports suggested that Snyder would bring In-N-Out's corporate headquarters to Tennessee with her, and the company — which exists predominantly on the West Coast — does plan to open new locations in the Southeast and a regional headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee.

The company's current headquarters in Irvine, California, will close by 2029, Snyder said last week — and the company will soon be based in Baldwin Park instead, she now says.

Snyder's comments on the podcast drew backlash from critics who accused the billionaire of fleeing California, where her family's business grew and thrived for decades, in search of lower tax rates. Some Californians criticized Snyder for pulling her family out of the state that helped her family attain generational wealth. Snyder's estimated net worth is $7.3 billion, according to Forbes.

Tennessee doesn't tax individual income, and its top corporate tax rate of 6.5% is much lower than California's top rate of 8.84%. High business expenses are a key reason why California ranked 22nd on CNBC's 2025 ranking of the Top States for Business, while Tennessee ranked 8th overall.

“Where I raise my family has nothing to do with my love and appreciation for our Customers in California,” Snyder said on Monday. “I'm very proud of where In-N-Out started. Anyone who knows me knows how often I talk about our beginnings and how our customers here in California helped bring us to where we are today.”

Most of In-N-Out's 400-plus locations are in California. The company has expanded its footprint over the past three decades, and now has locations in eight states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho.

The company is the ninth-largest burger chain in the U.S. by sales, bringing in an estimated $2.1 billion per year, according to food service consulting firm Technomic. Its national expansion efforts are notably slow and deliberate, due partially to the company's commitment to never freezing any of its ingredients, meaning that any new restaurant must be within a day's driving distance of an In-N-Out supply center.

With its new facility and offices in Franklin expected to be completed in 2026, the company could soon begin opening locations in Tennessee, with 35 new restaurants eventually planned for the state, The Tennessean reported on Monday.