That makes Buc-ee's unusual among big American chains: no outside sale of a stake and no public listing has ever been reported.
Who owns Buc-ee's today?
| Owner | Role | Stake | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arch "Beaver" Aplin III | Co-founder and CEO; runs marketing and construction | Equal partner | 1982 |
| Don Wasek | Co-founder; runs business operations | Equal partner | 1985 |
Sources: SlashGear, February 2026; Chowhound, March 2026; Buc-ee's on Wikipedia.
Aplin has a construction degree from Texas A&M, which fits his role overseeing the chain's oversized buildings. Wasek already ran a convenience store near Aplin's when the two joined forces. Neither has disclosed his personal net worth, and figures you may see online for either man are estimates, not reported numbers.
Is Buc-ee's publicly traded?
No. Buc-ee's Ltd. is a private company, so there is no Buc-ee's stock, and it does not file financial results with the SEC. Every revenue figure published about Buc-ee's is an outside estimate, and the estimates range from about $1 billion to well over $5 billion a year. I have not found one that cites a company source, so I do not give one here.
How big is Buc-ee's?
| Measure | Figure | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Locations | 56 | July 2026 |
| States | 14 | July 2026 |
| Texas locations | 36 | July 2026 |
| Largest store | Luling, Texas, about 75,000 square feet | Opened June 10, 2024 |
| Longest car wash | Katy, Texas, 255-foot conveyor | - |
Source: Buc-ee's on Wikipedia, citing company announcements and local press.
Outside Texas, Alabama has four stores, Georgia three, and Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee two each. Colorado, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, Arizona and Arkansas have one each, per the same July 2026 count.
Every Buc-ee's milestone
- 1982
Arch Aplin opens the first Buc-ee's in Clute, Texas, next to Lake Jackson
- 1985
Don Wasek becomes Aplin's equal partner
- 2003
The first large travel center opens in Luling, Texas
- 2012
New Braunfels opens as the world's largest convenience store at 68,000 square feet
- 2015
The first Dallas-Fort Worth store opens in Terrell
- 2018
The first store outside Texas opens in Baldwin County, Alabama
- 2021
Daytona Beach, Florida opens
- 2023
Sevierville, Tennessee opens at 74,707 square feet, a new record
- 2024
A rebuilt Luling store reaches about 75,000 square feet and takes the record
- 2026
56 locations in 14 states, still owned by the two founders
Buc-ee's has had the same two owners for more than 40 years. There has never been an outside deal to put a price on the company.
Why is it called Buc-ee's?
Aplin's childhood nickname, Beaver, came from his mother, and it inspired the buck-toothed beaver mascot. The beaver logo is now on every store, billboard and bag of Beaver Nuggets.
How I checked this
Ownership comes from 2026 profiles in SlashGear and Chowhound, which agree that Aplin and Wasek are equal partners in Buc-ee's Ltd., and from the company history on Wikipedia. Store counts and record sizes come from the same Wikipedia history, which cites company and local news announcements. Buc-ee's is private and publishes no financials, so I list no sales or valuation figure.
Related reading
Sources & methodology
Observations retain their source, period and definition. Uncertainty is preserved; missing values are not zero.
- Buc-ee's (Wikipedia, citing the Houston Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News and company announcements) ↗
Wikipedia
Accessed 2026-10-30.
- Who owns Buc-ee's gas stations? (SlashGear) ↗
SlashGear · 2026-02-21T00:00:00.000Z
- What company owns Buc-ee's? (Chowhound) ↗
Chowhound · 2026-03-05T00:00:00.000Z