The 82-year-old founder of fast-food juggernaut Five Guys, Jerry Murrell, is making headlines after coughing up a whopping $1.5 million bonus to staff — and cracking a joke that’s raising eyebrows across the country.
Murrell says the payout wasn’t just generosity — it was self-preservation, at least in jest.
“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 quipped in a recent interview.
The comment appeared to nod — however awkwardly — to the shocking 2024 killing of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare boss gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel in December. The accused shooter, Luigi Mangione, was later nabbed after a nationwide manhunt, ending with his arrest at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania. He now faces charges in both state and federal courts.
Murrell didn’t dwell on the comparison — but the timing and tone didn’t go unnoticed.
Back at Five Guys HQ, the real crisis was less sinister but no less messy: a botched buy-one-get-one-free promotion meant to celebrate the chain’s 40th anniversary turned into a full-blown fiasco.
Customers flooded stores and crashed the company’s app. Locations buckled under the pressure. Some pulled the plug early. Social media lit up with complaints.
In Murrell’s own words: they “screwed … up.” So the boss reached for his wallet.
The $1.5 million payout was split among roughly 1,500 workers — a gesture Murrell says was well-earned after crews were left scrambling under the unexpected surge.
“They worked so hard. They were so overwhelmed,” he said, brushing off criticism — and even a little skepticism at home. “She still looks at me like I’m stupid, but I thought it was worth it,” he added, joking that the money might otherwise have gone toward “a new fur coat” for his wife.
The company itself quickly moved into apology mode. “We let you down, and we’re sorry,” Five Guys said in a Feb. 18 statement, admitting the promotion had put its “hardworking crews … in a difficult situation.”
Weeks later, the chain tried to make it right, relaunching the deal for a limited four-day run in March. “You visited our restaurants in overwhelming numbers, and we weren’t ready for you,” the company said in a follow-up message. “We didn’t meet our own standards, and that’s not something we take lightly. So we’re asking for a do-over.”
