Cargill Billionaire Owners See Record Payout as Profit Rises (1)

Cargill Inc. paid a record dividend to the billionaire families who control the world’s biggest agricultural commodities trader after profits surged 44% in its most recent financial year.

The largest privately-held company in the US by revenue paid out almost $1.5 billion to shareholders in the year ended May 31, according to the company’s audited annual accounts seen by Bloomberg News. That’s up almost 25% from a year earlier and eclipsed the previous record dividend in 2022, when Cargill made the most money in its 160-year history.

Cargill, which counts at least a dozen billionaires among its shareholders, is owned ...