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Like countless others, Bill Phelps wanted to get rich when he was younger. Now, the 69-year-old CEO of Dave’s Hot Chicken and former CEO and co-founder of Wetzel’s Pretzels says he gets fulfillment out of helping others find financial success.

In the last two weeks, 19 Dave’s employees became millionaires after private equity firm Roark Capital acquired a majority stake of the Pasadena, California-based chicken finger chain in deal worth “close to” $1 billion, Phelps said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on June 2.

Creating that many millionaires was intentional, Phelps tells CNBC Make It.

“I had some investors who were like, ‘you’re giving away too much money, this isn’t right,’” he says. “They were absolutely right as investors to stand up for other investors. They have a fiduciary duty, but I have a duty to the people that created this business and I was true to taking care of all of those stakeholders in this deal.”

As part of the deal, every Dave’s corporate employee, store manager and assistant manager received a bonus roughly equivalent to their yearly salary, president and COO of Dave’s Jim Bitticks told Nation’s Restaurant News.

Dave’s Hot Chicken got its start in 2017 when three childhood friends pooled $900 in savings to open a chicken finger stand in a Los Angeles parking lot.

Phelps, a franchise business veteran who founded Wetzel’s Pretzels in 1994 and sat on Blaze Pizza’s board of directors until 2020, became CEO of Dave’s in 2019 after an investor group Phelps was a member of acquired a stake in the company with plans to franchise the brand, the company told NRN in 2019. . .

>Like countless others, Bill Phelps wanted to get rich when he was younger. Now, the 69-year-old CEO of Dave’s Hot Chicken and former CEO and co-founder of Wetzel’s Pretzels says he gets fulfillment out of helping others find financial success. >In the last two weeks, 19 Dave’s employees became millionaires after private equity firm Roark Capital acquired a majority stake of the Pasadena, California-based chicken finger chain in deal worth “close to” $1 billion, Phelps said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on June 2. >Creating that many millionaires was intentional, Phelps tells CNBC Make It. >“I had some investors who were like, ‘you’re giving away too much money, this isn’t right,’” he says. “They were absolutely right as investors to stand up for other investors. They have a fiduciary duty, but I have a duty to the people that created this business and I was true to taking care of all of those stakeholders in this deal.” >As part of the deal, every Dave’s corporate employee, store manager and assistant manager received a bonus roughly equivalent to their yearly salary, president and COO of Dave’s Jim Bitticks told Nation’s Restaurant News. >Dave’s Hot Chicken got its start in 2017 when three childhood friends pooled $900 in savings to open a chicken finger stand in a Los Angeles parking lot. >Phelps, a franchise business veteran who founded Wetzel’s Pretzels in 1994 and sat on Blaze Pizza’s board of directors until 2020, became CEO of Dave’s in 2019 after an investor group Phelps was a member of acquired a stake in the company with plans to franchise the brand, the company told NRN in 2019. . . [Archive](https://archive.today/F4agg)

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[–] • 1 pt

In the last two weeks, 19 Dave’s employees became millionaires after private equity firm Roark Capital acquired a majority stake of the Pasadena, California-based chicken finger chain in deal worth “close to” $1 billion, Phelps said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on June 2.

private equity firm Roark Capital

PE firms exist to destroy companies. (((Private Equity))) is a jewish tool to unravel capitalism and plunder the work of Whites. He didn't help his employees get rish. He helped the jews destroy another successful business. The jews will give you a pittance while they buy up and destroy all competition so that you get locked into what (((Blackrock))) owns. It's an end game move.

Go learn about how (((PE))) destroyed the healthy craft store chain JoAnn's to see how the grift works. Pure jewish evil.

[–] • 0 pt

I've seen these vultures swoop in on competition and create/protect market share in the past.

JoAnn's was suffering the past 20+ years compared to the 20 year period before that. Women just aren't into sewing and fabrics like they were 3 generations ago and beyond. We had a JoAnn's in a nearby city, bought my wife (at the time) an expensive Viking Embroidery machine there. As a kid I remember my mom and aunt going there for sewing supplies fairly often.

My anecdotal observation was that JoAnn's was struggling, and that was in 2002ish. Not familiar with any kikery that happened through the years, just thought it was because fewer young women value those skills and hobbies.