When Five Guys’ 40th birthday promotion collapsed under its own weight, most CEOs would have issued a polished apology and moved on. Instead, Jerry Murrell wrote his employees a check—1,500 of them to be exact. Now, the 82-year-old longtime founder of the franchise joked it wasn’t altruism: he was worried about his safety.
“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,” he joked.
In a candid phone call with Fortune, Murrell wove his quick wit between genuine concern for his employees, following what would otherwise be a logistical nightmare that would send CEOs reeling to their crisis comms teams. Instead, Murrell stepped up, apologized first to his employees and then to the public, and said they would do it again—this time, correctly.
“I was gonna buy my wife a new fur coat, and I spent it on [the bonus] instead,” Murrell said in a dry pan usually reserved for the likes of Mel Brooks and Leslie Nielsen. “She still looks at me like I’m stupid. But I thought it was worth it. They worked so hard. They were so overwhelmed.”
The problem started when the chain launched a BOGO deal on Feb. 17 to celebrate its 40th birthday. Almost immediately, the giveaway had gone awry: stores ran out of food, workers were overwhelmed, and lines stretched out the door.
The response “was unlike anything we’ve seen,” the chain said in a press release. “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 statement continued, giving details of a “40th After Party” that took place between March 9 and 12.
The turnout was particularly impressive for Murrell, who said he never really believed in promotions in the first place. “I’m a funny guy,” he said. “I always think it’s funny when people go to sales. I never thought they worked. We tried this one, buy one, get one free. Holy smokes. I couldn’t believe all the people that jumped on that. I thought maybe increased sales like 20% or something—that was like 130%. So I felt I screwed up.”
Rather than let his workers bear the consequences of his miscalculation, he distributed $1.5 million in bonuses—$1,000 per store—to the frontline crew that had held things together. Then, “we did it over again, and the crew did good that day, because they were prepared, but they worked so hard that I thought, now I better give them a bonus.”
Five Guys has a history of generosity
The $1.5 million bonus wasn’t a one-off moment. It reflects a broader philosophy that has been baked into Five Guys since the beginning. According to its website, the chain donates 20% of sales from in-store community events to local organizations and charities, and corporate and franchise teams are active participants in groups like Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Individual franchise owners have donated tens of thousands of dollars back to their communities through the company’s fundraising program.
Like the rest of the interview, Murrell brushed off his actions with another joke. “I had a dream the other night of what I thought heaven might be like. And I got up to heaven, and there was a guy in front of me, he was from McDonald’s. And St. Peter said to him, ‘What do you want here?’ The guy from McDonald’s says, ‘I want to get into heaven.’ So St. Peter said, ‘Spell cat.’ And then it was my turn. I’m from Five Guys, and St. Peter says to me, what do you want? I said, I want to get into heaven. He says, spell chrysanthemum.”
Five Guys remains one of the last major fast-food chains that are fully private and family-run. The name itself tells the story: Murrell and his wife Jamie have five sons, and the next generation is already embedded in the business. “We got 14 grandkids and 11 great grandkids, and I think nine or 10 of the grandkids are in the business too, so they seem to like the business. Looks like it’s going to carry on the way we have built it,” he said.
“We’ve just been real, real lucky, real fortunate.”
