Saturday 28/March/2026 – 12:50 PM
Jerry Morell, CEO of the Five Guys restaurant chain, said that he gave financial bonuses worth one and a half million dollars to his employees in the United States of America, justifying this by saying that he did not want anyone to shoot him in the back.
This controversial statement came in an interview with Fortune magazine after the failure of a promotional presentation presented by the company, indirectly referring to the assassination of Brian Thompson, Chairman of UnitedHealthcare.
The promotion crisis and the management’s apology
According to The Gurdian, the press interview dealt with the repercussions of the promotion organized by the famous restaurants last February to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its founding, which included obtaining a free meal when purchasing another, as the electronic application witnessed a complete collapse due to unexpected demand, which prompted many branches to cancel the offer early amid widespread anger on social media platforms.
The management issued two successive apology statements in which it acknowledged letting customers down and putting the hardworking crews in an extremely difficult situation, before relaunching the offer for an additional four days.
Millions of dollars in compensation for exhausted workers
According to the same source, Morell confirmed during his speech that he decided to distribute this huge bonus to workers in one thousand five hundred local branches to compensate them for the overwhelming chaos that accompanied the offer, stressing that the administration did not expect this huge amount of public response.
The Five Guys president joked with followers that he preferred to give money to workers who were under tremendous pressure rather than buy a new fur coat for his wife, who still looks at him as a fool because of this extraordinary decision, as he put it.
The specter of assassinations haunts company heads
According to Gurdian, these statements brought to mind the murder of the healthcare leader who was shot from behind in December 2024, where the accused, Luigi Mangione, is currently awaiting trial.
It should be noted that the Five Guys brand, which was founded in 1986, currently owns 1,900 branches and employs 30,000 workers in 28 countries around the world. The company has not yet issued any official comment clarifying the truth of its CEO’s statements.
