The CEO of fast-food giant Five Guys said he gave his staff a $1.5 million bonus because he didn’t want to be shot in the back — an apparent allusion to the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Jerry Murrell, 82, who founded the burger chain 40 years ago, said he decided to reward his employees after his company recently “screwed … up” a buy-one-get-one-free promotion.
The $1.5 million bonus, divided among 1,500 workers, was paid out following the recent debacle surrounding Five Guys’ 40th anniversary celebrations.
“I didn’t want anybody shooting me in the back or anything after the first day, because we really screwed it up. We had no idea that we were going to get that kind of response,” the burger boss joked in an interview with Fortune magazine this week.
Murrell did not elaborate on the comment, which appeared to be a reference to the assassination of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4, 2024.
His murder and the subsequent arrest of the suspected gunman, Luigi Mangione, led to gloating from many sick left-wing trolls claiming that the father-of-two’s death was deserved because of his role in the American health insurance industry.
Mangione is awaiting trial in both state and federal courthouses following a manhunt that led to his arrest at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Murrell — who has an estimated net worth of over $400 million — joked that he would rather employees receive the bonus over his wife getting “a new fur coat.”
“She still looks at me like I’m stupid, but I thought it was worth it. They worked so hard. They were so overwhelmed,” said Murrell, who has led Five Guys since he opened its first location in Arlington, Virginia, in 1986.
Murrell was speaking weeks after a promotion held in February to celebrate Five Guys’ 40th anniversary, which proved to be much more popular than the chain expected.
The company’s app crashed as customers sought to take advantage of the promotion, with many overwhelmed chain locations discontinuing the offer early, leading to backlash on social media.
“We let you down, and we’re sorry,” Five Guys said in an apology on Feb. 18, expressing regret for having placed the chain’s “hardworking crews … in a difficult situation.”
It then put out a follow-up note on March 9, resuming the promotion for four days.
“You visited our restaurants in overwhelming numbers, and we weren’t ready for you. We didn’t meet our own standards, and that’s not something we take lightly. So we’re asking for a do-over,” the note read.
