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Biglari Holdings Inc.
Biglari Holdings owns a mix of businesses, including Steak n Shake restaurants, an insurance company, oil and gas royalties, and media licensing, and invests the cash they generate.
Biglari Holdings is a small conglomerate — a company that owns a collection of other businesses rather than running one single operation. Its best-known piece is Steak n Shake, a chain of burger-and-milkshake restaurants that made its name with thin, crispy burgers and hand-dipped shakes. The company also owns an insurance business that writes specialty policies, holds royalty interests in oil and gas properties, and licenses media content. So a customer might buy a burger, while the parent company's money comes from several very different directions.
The way it makes money is unusual. The insurance arm collects premiums and invests the cash in the meantime, much like a mini version of Berkshire Hathaway. The oil and gas royalties pay the company when energy companies pull fuel from land it has an interest in — no drilling rigs of its own required. And the media licensing brings in fees for the use of content. Steak n Shake, meanwhile, has been shifting toward a franchising model, where independent operators run most restaurants and pay the parent for the brand and support, which means less capital tied up in owning stores. The company is run by Sardar Biglari, a contrarian investor who took control of what was then The Steak n Shake Company and turned it into a holding vehicle for buying businesses and stocks. He is known for sharp letters to shareholders, tight cost control, and a willingness to buy back shares aggressively when he thinks they are cheap. That buyback habit is a big part of the story: Biglari has repurchased a large slice of the company's stock over the years, which shrinks the share count and concentrates ownership.
Life as a small conglomerate is not easy. The restaurant business is fiercely competitive, with rivals like McDonald's and many others fighting for the same customers, and Steak n Shake has had its share of struggles with store closures and shifting strategy. Insurance and energy bring their own risks — bad underwriting or weak oil prices can hurt. Owning a grab bag of businesses can create value if the pieces are bought cheaply and run well, but it also makes the company harder for investors to value and easier to overlook. That is the bet Biglari Holdings is making.
Saved answer · last researched 15 Nov 2026