Jersey Mike’s longtime CEO and founder steps down after $8 billion sale to private equity
By Jordan Valinsky, CNN
New York (CNN) — Peter Cancro, the founder and CEO of Jersey Mike’s Subs, is stepping back from the leadership position following an $8 billion sale that made him a multibillionaire.
The fast-growing sub chain announced Thursday that Cancro will be replaced by Charlie Morrison, the former CEO of Wingstop, beginning on April 28. A press release said that Morrison will be tasked with building on Jersey Mike’s “strong momentum and continue to accelerate its expansion in the US and international markets.”
Cancro, however, isn’t disappearing entirety from the chain which has grown to 3,000 locations under his 50-year purview. He will remain as the chairman of the board and be a “significant minority shareholder,” the company said.
Cancro said in a release that Morrison is the “ideal” candidate to replace him as CEO and credited him with the growth of Wingstop. The company’s stock quadrupled in value under his decade-long leadership before he left the company in 2022.
“Having led Wingstop through a monumental period of growth and a successful IPO, he knows what it takes to lead a first-of-its-kind, category-defining brand, and I am confident he will bring that same energy and vision to Jersey Mike’s,” Cancro said.
Jersey Mike’s sold a significant stake to private equity giant Blackstone in an $8 billion deal last year, ending its nearly seven-decade run as an independently owned business that transformed into a major competitor against well-entrenched brands like Subway.
Cancro, 66, started working at its original location in New Jersey in 1971 when he was a high-school student. He bought the store, then called Mike’s Subs, in 1975 when he was just 17. He tweaked the name in the 1980s and started franchising the brand with locations currently in the US and Canada and plans to expand to Europe and the UK.
As the chain’s sole owner, he also cashed in on the deal. The Bloomberg Billionaire Index now values his net worth at $7.5 billion.
Jersey Mike’s is the second-largest sandwich chain behind Subway in sales. Data from QSR Magazine reveals Jersey Mike’s locations pull in about $1.35 million per unit, with an average Subway location raking in less than $500,000.
Blackstone’s transaction was the largest deal in the fast food space since Subway sold itself to private equity firm Roark Capital last year for about $9.6 billion.
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