AI6YR BenThe Guardian: Five Guys CEO says he gave a $1.5m bonus to his workers so he wouldn’t get shot in the back
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/27/five-guys-ceo-workers-bonus
Viss
Wulfy—Speaker to the machines
cR0w 
🏴☠️
Jim Hubbell@ai6yr
Each?
Each?
Dave Clark@ai6yr he gave $100 per store! That's it
@bedirthan Hmmm, maybe he did not stave off what he fears.
@bedirthan Oooh... 30,000 employees. So, 1.5 million dollars, divided by 30,000 is $50 each, lol.
@ai6yr that's global stores though. Promo was only the 1500 stores in US
@bedirthan I mean, $50 or $100 to an employee who wants to murder you is probably not enough. Probably BETTER to NOT have your employees even thinking of such a thing, lol.
FeloniousPunk@ai6yr @bedirthan Four Guys
fuzzyfuzzyfungus@ai6yr @bedirthan I suspect that efficacy is less about the exact value and more about the perception of justice.
Someone who would kill you or not over a difference of $50 is an atypical and probably quite dangerous person; but the actual cost of ensuring that someone thinks they are being fairly treated rather than not is often pretty small; and it's the sense of being ill-treated with impunity that really tweaks the moral sentiments of even the fairly laid back.
@bedirthan Looks like $789 per store if I did the math right.
Nazo@ai6yr @bedirthan Just the action itself alone is enough for many people in my experience. Most will never even process the fact that they got what amounts to a bit of change from the top where just a simple raise would help so much more.
And that sounds like it's a one time bonus too, not even recurring.
@nazokiyoubinbou @bedirthan I mean, you might make more smuggling out french fries at the end of your shift 🤪
@ai6yr @bedirthan Oh you could absolutely swipe more than $50 worth of fries over the course of a full year. Even just getting pens or paper towels or something would easily exceed a one time $50 over the course of a year.
It's actually pretty difficult to do anything as low as that. But hey, if you add it *all* together and say they're giving out "one and a half million" it sure sounds like a lot then doesn't it?
It works too.
Zen Zero ☯️ ◯@ai6yr @SRDas @bedirthan I just two minutes ago deposited a $62 settlement check from a class action law suit. It’s really silly.
@xvf17 @SRDas @bedirthan I once got a 5 cent check for a class action lawsuit, I didn't even bother to go deposit it.
Mother BonesWell in that case now he's stirred up more than he can contain by insulting them. Be on the lookout for Five Guys news stories! 😳
@ai6yr So $1.5 million across 1,500 affected locations, divide $1000 across however many employees per location...
That beats a thumbs-up emoji in the 'employee recognition management' system or a coupon for 1 free small drink with purchase or something; but either he's intending a lighthearted joke or seems to think that the murderous lower orders can be placated astonishingly cheaply.
🇨🇦 CowMan 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 🇲🇽@fuzzyfuzzyfungus @ai6yr yes, 30,000 employees over 1,900 stores implies ~15 / store, so that ~1000 works out to about $65/person; pet article numbers.
I dunno what they pay, but at US min wage ($7.25), that'd be about 9 hours. Looks like five guys pays more like $15 for front line staff.
I am guessing it's roughly a full shifts pay if one were to dig down and sort out who got how much.
Klaus Frank@ai6yr So this is how you get a pay raise these days :p
Pxl Phile
jbaggs@ai6yr He must really misjudge the importance of his burger chain to think the reaction to a botched marketing campaign would be similar to one to a failed healthcare system.
Also note to Jerry Murrell: Use Less Salt!
Jack the Frosted Count@ai6yr Fella understands his role in the hierarchy.
skuaA bottle of water once a month, a piece of pizza once a year during night shift and a Xmas BBQ worked wonders on us in construction.
Expecting a #LuigiBonus cash bonus would plant Luigi seeds or nourish a Luigi seedling.
#IsThatAllThereIs?
Alexander Goeres 𒀯@AI6YR Ben the shooter was no disgruntled employee ... he was a disgruntled patient
JonathanThis guy sounds like an asshole. I guess that means chances are ... he's an asshole.
"Murrell joked that he preferred the employees receiving the bonus over his wife getting “a new fur coat”."
Fuck five guys. Never been there and never going.
Also, just on a bit of a professional tip, I wonder how many people have lost their shirts buying their franchises.
"Early in 2003, Jerry and Janie, together with the “Five Guys,” began offering franchise opportunities. In just under 18 months, more than 300 units had been sold."
(From their website)
Informal list of closures aince 2022. Now I'm sure many businesses have closures, but if you buy a franchise, you've just lost your entire investment. You can't pivot. I don't know if these are franchise or corporately owned stores
Kiki Buber@jmcrookston @ai6yr 1.5 million doesn’t go that far across 1500 stores. We’re probably talking about typical bonuses of less than a hundred dollars.
Energetic NovaI can always tell how rich people are by how much they will snub an extra $50-$100.
Im poor enough that that is a meaningful improvement to my existence.