Today was one of those days when you’ve just got to pay the man. The tire light came on in one of our cars so we took it in to Les Schwab, a Northwest icon of a company, to see what was up. We ended up having to buy two new tires for almost $500. I was curious about the cost and did a little poking around.

Tire mark ups are apparently about 35%. Seems like a very healthy margin. I also learned that Les Schwab is worth approximately $7 billion. It is also no longer owned by founder and namesake Les Schwab. He sold the company in 2020. The current owners are the Meritage Group. Who owns the Meritage Group? Well, they appear to be owned by a guy named ‘Nat’ Simons, who inherited his wealth. His father Jim Simons had a net worth of approximately $31.4 billion at the time of his death in May 2024. Hmmmmmm….

I love that our need for tires helps support others who live in our community. However, considering the margins for tires and especially because of who now owns Les Schwab, I feel less good about the expenditure. Furthermore, I feel like this transaction is very indicative of our current economic reality in the United States. Specifically, you’ve got a company that appears to be local, but is actually owned by a mix of private and public equity. The real owner inherited the privilege of owning the company and has so much money (none of which he earned) he can’t even comprehend what an unexpected $500 bill feels like to a middle class family.