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Ferrellgas Partners LP
Ferrellgas Partners LP distributes propane across the US and Puerto Rico — an employee-owned, family-founded company traded on the NYSE.
Ferrellgas Partners LP
Ferrellgas Partners LP was founded in 1939 by the Ferrell family in a small Kansas town. The company was taken public as a master limited partnership but remains employee-owned, blending family-origin equity culture with public-market governance. The firm operates an integrated propane supply chain — sourcing, distributing, and delivering propane through more than 700 service locations across the US and Puerto Rico. Its customer base spans residential heating (roughly 60% of sales), commercial and industrial users, and agricultural operations for crop drying and animal housing (per the firm's 10-K, fiscal 2025). Ferrellgas also supplies propane to blue-chip wholesale customers and maintains a fleet of delivery trucks to serve off-grid and rural homes. The company has not disclosed specific investment allocations or a public AUM figure; as a product-focused operating company, its capital is deployed in physical infrastructure — storage tanks, distribution centers, and delivery vehicles — rather than financial securities. The firm employed roughly 4,000 people as of its 2025 fiscal year filing (per SEC, September 2025). It is structured as a publicly traded limited partnership with units listed on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker FGP. Beyond core propane operations, Ferrellgas spun off its retail natural gas marketing arm (Ferrellgas Retail) in 2015 and has since focused exclusively on propane logistics. In 2024, Newsweek named Ferrellgas one of America's Most Trustworthy Companies (per Newsweek March 2024), though governance remains heavily influenced by the founding family's legacy and employee-ownership plan. Ferrellgas' structural differentiator is its unusual dual identity: it is simultaneously a family-founded enterprise, an employee-owned company, and a publicly traded limited partnership on the NYSE. This hybrid model — rare among family offices — means the company's capital allocation decisions are disclosed quarterly via SEC filings, offering allocators and analysts a recurring window into its operational cash flows and debt profile that pure family offices do not provide.
General information
Firm type
other
Year founded
1939
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Overland Park
Corporate office
Overland Park, KS, United States
Principals
Ferrell family
Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Ferrellgas Partners?
Ferrellgas is managed by a board of directors elected by shareholders, with day-to-day operations led by senior management including a CEO and CFO who report quarterly earnings (per SEC filings). The founding Ferrell family no longer holds a controlling equity stake, but the company's employee stock ownership plan gives workers a collective voice in corporate governance.
What investment stages does Ferrellgas target?
Ferrellgas does not operate as a traditional investment firm; it is an operating company that invests capital into propane infrastructure — storage tanks, delivery fleets, and acquisition of local propane distributors. It targets mature, cash-flow-generating businesses in the retail propane sector rather than early-stage or growth-stage equity investments.
Is Ferrellgas structured as a family office?
No. Ferrellgas is a publicly traded master limited partnership (NYSE: FGP) with a market capitalization of roughly $400 million as of early 2026 (per NYSE data). It is not a family office, though the Ferrell family's founding influence remains part of its corporate culture and employee-ownership model.
Which sectors does Ferrellgas explicitly avoid?
The company focuses exclusively on propane distribution and related services. It does not invest in renewable energy, natural gas exploration, crude oil, or financial securities. Its 10-K filing lists its only reportable segment as propane retail and wholesale operations (per Ferrellgas 10-K, fiscal 2025).
Does Ferrellgas maintain philanthropic structures?
The company does not operate a separately named charitable foundation. Its community engagement is executed through local service location contributions and employee volunteer programs, with no public disclosure of a formal philanthropic entity.
What is Ferrellgas' known posture on co-investments?
Ferrellgas does not participate in co-investment structures typical of family offices. Its capital allocation decisions are made internally and approved by its board, focused on organic growth and tuck-in acquisitions of existing propane distributors.
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