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Ransomware group thegentlemen hits Ritz Safety
Ritz Safety — a manufacturing target operating in US has been listed by the thegentlemen ransomware group on 2026-09-07. The information below reflects what the threat actor has publicly claimed on their leak site; the details have not been independently verified.
Incident Report
| Target Organization | Ritz Safety |
|---|---|
| Threat Group | thegentlemen |
| Summary | ritzsafety.com zoominfo.com/c/ritz-safety-llc/82166398 Ritz Safety Americas largest privately-held PPE & safety equipment distributors — founded in 1983 in Pompano Beach, Florida by Emily Ritz and her son Peter Merkl, selling work boots and gloves from a truck, now HQ'd in Dayton, Ohio with ~220–250 employees and 17–18 locations nationwide. Hidden twist: in 2006 the family's uniform-rental empire Van Dyne Crotty was sold to Cintas — but the brothers Dan and Bob Crotty kept Ritz Safety out of the deal and built it into a roll-up consolidator: 9 acquisitions (2015–2022), 5,000+ customers monthly, access to 200,000+ SKUs, private-label lines, equipment rental/repair, custom embroidery and free on-site safety training. Revenue: $100–150M (2025: +12% = +$20M growth, best Q2 in the company's 42-year history), 100% family-owned (Crotty family), no PE. Bottom line: a family dynasty that lost its parent empire to Cintas but turned the "leftover" safety distributor into a new national powerhouse |
| Date of Breach | 2026-09-07 |
| Discovery Date | 2026-09-07 |
| Region | US |
| Target Domain | ritzsafety.com |
| Business Sector | Manufacturing |
| Severity | MEDIUM |
Claim by thegentlemen
ritzsafety.com zoominfo.com/c/ritz-safety-llc/82166398 Ritz Safety Americas largest privately-held PPE & safety equipment distributors — founded in 1983 in Pompano Beach, Florida by Emily Ritz and her son Peter Merkl, selling work boots and gloves from a truck, now HQ'd in Dayton, Ohio with ~220–250 employees and 17–18 locations nationwide. Hidden twist: in 2006 the family's uniform-rental empire Van Dyne Crotty was sold to Cintas — but the brothers Dan and Bob Crotty kept Ritz Safety out of the deal and built it into a roll-up consolidator: 9 acquisitions (2015–2022), 5,000+ customers monthly, access to 200,000+ SKUs, private-label lines, equipment rental/repair, custom embroidery and free on-site safety training. Revenue: $100–150M (2025: +12% = +$20M growth, best Q2 in the company's 42-year history), 100% family-owned (Crotty family), no PE. Bottom line: a family dynasty that lost its parent empire to Cintas but turned the "leftover" safety distributor into a new national powerhouse
Posted by the thegentlemen threat actor on its public leak site. This is the group's own statement and has not been independently verified by HackerFeeds.
Sources
Disclaimer
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