Behind the multibillion deal for Jetro Restaurant Depot is its 94-year-old founder who amassed billions by turning a Brooklyn warehouse into a U.S. food empire.

Nathan “Natie” Kirsh founded Restaurant Depot in 1976 as Jetro Cash & Carry, and built the company into a leading brand that dominates the restaurant-supply market. Restaurant Depot operates 166 stores across 35 states and generated about $16 billion in revenue last year.

“We literally have no competition,” Kirsh told a class at the London Business School in 2011. Kirsh still holds a majority stake in the warehouse retailer.

The sale to food-distributor Sysco, for roughly $29.1 billion including debt, caps an unlikely career for the low-profile Kirsh and his food business.