Erik Ragatz Net Worth: Estimate, Sources, and How to Verify

Erik Ragatz is a private equity veteran and Stanford GSB finance lecturer whose net worth is most reliably estimated in the range of $10 million to $20 million as of May 2026, with a midpoint around $12 to $15 million. The largest verifiable component is his beneficial ownership of Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. stock, which is documented in SEC filings. The rest of the range reflects unverified but reasonable assumptions about his career earnings, private equity compensation history, and other assets.

Who Is Erik Ragatz?

Erik D. Ragatz is a San Francisco Bay Area finance professional best known for his long tenure as a partner at Hellman & Friedman LLC, one of the most prominent private equity firms in the United States. He earned his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2001 (listed as MBA '01) and spent more than 20 years at H&F before transitioning to a senior advisor role. As of 2026, he holds a lecturer position at Stanford GSB, where he teaches in the area of management and finance.

In addition to his academic and advisory roles, Ragatz serves on corporate boards. His most publicly documented board seat is at Grocery Outlet Holding Corp., the publicly traded discount grocery chain based in Emeryville, California. He has also been connected to LPL Financial in board or leadership capacities. He is listed as Vice Chair of the Stanford GSB Trust, reflecting ongoing institutional ties to the university.

There is no widely searched public figure by the name Erik Ragatz other than this individual. If you arrived here from a search, this is almost certainly the person you are looking for: a private equity-trained finance executive with verifiable SEC filings and Stanford affiliations. If you are searching specifically for Erik Ragatz net worth, this article breaks down the verifiable SEC-linked stock position first, then explains why the rest must be estimated rik elswit net worth.

What "Net Worth" Actually Means

Net worth is simply everything you own minus everything you owe. Assets include cash, investment accounts, real estate, business stakes, stock holdings, retirement accounts, and physical property. Liabilities include mortgages, loans, and any outstanding debts. If you own a $2 million home with a $600,000 mortgage, that home contributes $1.4 million to your net worth, not $2 million.

For public figures like Ragatz, the calculation is partially transparent (because SEC filings disclose stock ownership in public companies) and partially opaque (because private assets, real estate, cash, and compensation from private partnerships are not required to be publicly disclosed). That gap between what we can verify and what we have to estimate is why net worth figures for private individuals always carry a range rather than a single definitive number.

Erik Ragatz's Estimated Net Worth

Based on all available public data as of May 2026, the best-supported net worth estimate for Erik Ragatz is $10 million to $20 million, with a reasonable central estimate around $12 to $15 million. Here is where that range comes from.

The Grocery Outlet Stock Position

This is the most verifiable piece. A March 2026 Form 4 filed with the SEC shows that Erik D. Ragatz, through the Ragatz Revocable Trust, purchased 125,000 shares of Grocery Outlet (GO) at $7.06 per share, representing a total purchase value of approximately $486,000. After that purchase, the Ragatz Revocable Trust held 651,500 shares. He also holds additional shares directly and indirectly through a limited partnership, an LLC, a 401(k), and shares attributed to his spouse.

At a share price of roughly $7 (the range Grocery Outlet traded in during early 2026 after a significant decline from prior highs), the 651,500 trust shares alone are worth approximately $4.6 million. Adding indirect holdings through the LP, LLC, and spouse brings total disclosed Grocery Outlet exposure to somewhere between $5 million and $7 million depending on how those additional vehicles are structured and what the share price is at any given moment. CoreStreet pegged a stock-based floor of approximately $9.4 million as of late 2025 (when Grocery Outlet traded higher), while Insidertrades.com reported a lower figure of roughly $3.4 million as of March 2026, reflecting the sharp drop in GO's share price. MarketScreener's aggregate estimate listed a net worth of $10 million as of late April 2026.

Board Compensation from Grocery Outlet

Salary.com's executive compensation summary, drawn from proxy statement filings, reports Ragatz received total board compensation of approximately $295,006 for fiscal year 2024 at Grocery Outlet. That breaks down to $145,000 in cash fees and $150,006 in stock awards. This is recurring annual income, not a one-time figure, though it will fluctuate with stock price.

Private Equity and Stanford Income

Ragatz spent more than 20 years as a partner at Hellman & Friedman, a top-tier private equity firm. Partner-level compensation at firms like H&F is generally not disclosed publicly, but it typically includes a base salary, carried interest (a share of profits from successful investments), and co-investment opportunities. Over two decades, it is reasonable to assume he accumulated significant wealth from this source, though the exact figures are unknown. His current role as a senior advisor likely involves a reduced but still meaningful advisory fee arrangement. His Stanford GSB lecturer position is almost certainly compensated, though lecturer salaries at business schools are generally modest compared to industry compensation.

Net Worth Range Summary

Sources Behind This Estimate

The foundation of this estimate is SEC EDGAR data, specifically Form 4 filings that legally require directors and 10% owners of public companies to disclose their share transactions and beneficial ownership. These are not estimates; they are legal disclosures. The Form 4 filed in March 2026 for Grocery Outlet (Ragatz Erik D.) is the primary hard-data anchor for this article.

Secondary sources include Salary.com's board compensation summary (drawn from Grocery Outlet's proxy statements filed with the SEC), Stanford GSB's public faculty and trust leadership pages, and third-party aggregators including CoreStreet, Insidertrades.com, and MarketScreener. Those aggregator figures vary considerably ($3.4M to $10M) and are best understood as stock-based floor estimates, not full net worth calculations.

No private financial disclosures, tax records, or verified interviews were available for this article. The career wealth component from Hellman & Friedman is an informed assumption based on industry norms, not a documented figure.

Income Streams and Likely Asset Categories

• Grocery Outlet equity: Shares held through the Ragatz Revocable Trust, a limited partnership, an LLC, a 401(k) account, and shares attributed to his spouse. The trust alone held 651,500 shares after March 2026.
• Board director fees: Approximately $145,000 in annual cash compensation plus stock awards from Grocery Outlet, totaling around $295,000 per year based on 2024 proxy data.
• Private equity career proceeds: More than 20 years as a partner at Hellman & Friedman likely generated carried interest distributions from successful PE fund exits. This is the most significant unknown in the estimate.
• Senior advisor fees at H&F: Ongoing advisory relationship likely carries a retainer or fee arrangement, though the amount is not public.
• Stanford GSB lecturer compensation: Modest compared to other income sources but a confirmed income stream.
• Potential other board positions: His role at LPL Financial and other H&F portfolio companies may have generated or continue to generate additional equity or cash compensation.
• Trust and estate structures: The existence of the Ragatz Revocable Trust and LP/LLC structures suggests intentional estate and wealth planning, which is typical for individuals with significant accumulated assets.

Methodology, Assumptions, and Confidence Level

The methodology here follows a straightforward approach: start with what is verifiable (SEC filings), layer in what is credibly reported (proxy statement compensation data, Stanford affiliations), and then apply reasonable but explicitly labeled assumptions for the unverifiable components (career earnings, real estate, private investments).

The most important assumption driving the upper end of the range is that 20+ years as a partner at a top-tier PE firm like Hellman & Friedman resulted in meaningful carried interest distributions. Private equity partners at H&F-caliber firms can earn tens of millions in carry over a full career, but this varies enormously based on which funds they participated in, the performance of those funds, and their ownership percentage. Without a disclosure, this is an industry-norm assumption, not a verified figure.

The Grocery Outlet stock position is highly sensitive to share price. Grocery Outlet traded significantly lower in early 2026 compared to its prior highs, which is why the stock-based estimates from different aggregators diverge so much. A recovery in GO's share price would materially increase the verified portion of the net worth estimate.

Confidence level: Moderate for the $10M to $20M overall range. The lower bound ($10M) is relatively well-supported by combining disclosed stock holdings with conservative career earnings assumptions. The upper end ($20M+) is plausible but requires the PE career earnings assumption to hold, which cannot be confirmed without private disclosure. The stock-only floor, based purely on disclosed Grocery Outlet holdings, is approximately $5 million to $7 million at current prices.

How to Verify or Update This Figure

If you want to check this estimate yourself or track it over time, here are the most useful steps.

1. Search SEC EDGAR (sec.gov) for "Ragatz" under Form 4 filings. Any new purchase, sale, or change in beneficial ownership of Grocery Outlet stock will be reported there within two business days of the transaction. This is the fastest-updating and most reliable data point.
2. Check Grocery Outlet's investor relations page for proxy statements (DEF 14A filings). Annual proxy statements disclose director compensation for the prior fiscal year, usually filed in April or May.
3. Monitor Grocery Outlet's stock price (ticker: GO). The verified portion of the net worth estimate moves directly with GO's share price. A $2 move in the stock price changes the trust position's value by roughly $1.3 million.
4. Watch for new Form 4 filings at any other public companies where Ragatz may hold director or insider status (LPL Financial, or future H&F portfolio companies that go public).
5. Check Stanford GSB's faculty and trust pages periodically. Changes in his role (e.g., promotion to full faculty, new leadership positions) can signal changes in compensation or influence.
6. Revisit third-party aggregators like MarketScreener, CoreStreet, and Insidertrades.com for updated stock-based floor estimates, but treat those as partial pictures rather than full net worth calculations.

This estimate should be revisited if: Grocery Outlet's share price changes significantly, Ragatz files new Form 4s showing major purchases or sales, he takes on a new major public board role, or new proxy statements reveal changes in board compensation. Significant changes in any of these factors could shift the estimate by several million dollars.

What You Can and Cannot Confirm

To be direct about limitations: the Grocery Outlet stock position is confirmed and quantifiable. The board compensation is confirmed via proxy data. Everything else, including the private equity career earnings, real estate holdings, cash and investment accounts, and total liabilities, is either assumed or unknown. Anyone claiming a precise single-number net worth for Ragatz without disclosing those assumptions is presenting a false level of precision. The honest answer is a range with a moderate confidence level, which is what this article provides. Rikus Grimbeek net worth estimates follow a similar pattern, often blending public ownership disclosures with assumptions about private holdings. If you are looking for an overall snapshot, the Erik Reichenbach net worth search typically refers to how estimates like this are built from disclosed holdings and assumed career earnings. If you are looking specifically for chef Eric Ripert net worth, that calculation works differently because his income and assets are tied to a public-facing restaurant brand rather than primarily SEC-verified holdings range with a moderate confidence level.

For context, this kind of estimation challenge is common across profiles of private equity professionals and finance executives who appear in public company filings but are not themselves public figures in the traditional celebrity sense. The approach here mirrors how other finance-adjacent figures in this space are analyzed: anchor on SEC-verified data, layer in credible compensation benchmarks, and be transparent about what remains unknown. Riaan Swiegelaar net worth is often estimated using similar methods, combining disclosed holdings with assumptions where private assets are not available.