Charlie Morrison, the former CEO of Wingstop, was named to succeed Peter Cancro as CEO of Jersey Mike’s Subs — a move that was made after Jersey Mike’s sold for more than $8 billion.
And while you could say the succession plan makes perfect sense — after all, what goes better with subs than some wings? — you can bet it had more to do with the acumen Morrison showed as the leader of Wingstop.
In the release announcing the move on April 24, Cancro said Morrison is the “ideal” candidate to replace him as CEO and credited him with the growth of Wingstop. The company’s stock quadrupled in value under his decade-long leadership before he left the company in 2022.
“Having led Wingstop through a monumental period of growth and a successful IPO, he knows what it takes to lead a first-of-its-kind, category-defining brand, and I am confident he will bring that same energy and vision to Jersey Mike’s,” Cancro said.
Cancro said Morrison will be tasked with building on Jersey Mike’s “strong momentum and continue to accelerate its expansion in the US and international markets.”
Cancro, of course, sold a significant stake of Jersey Mike’s last year to private equity giant Blackstone in an $8 billion deal.
And while he will no longer be CEO, Cancro is not stepping away from the company he helped grow to more than 3,000 locations in his more than 50 years as its leader.
Cancro will remain as the chairman of the board and be a “significant minority shareholder,” the company said.
Cancro, 66, is a New Jersey business legend.
He started working at its original location in New Jersey in 1971 when he was a high-school student. He bought the store, then called Mike’s Subs, in 1975 when he was just 17. He tweaked the name in the 1980s and started franchising the brand with locations currently in the US and Canada and plans to expand to Europe and the UK.
As the chain’s sole owner, he also cashed in on the deal. The Bloomberg Billionaire Index now values his net worth at $7.5 billion — putting him around No. 300 in many lists of the world’s richest people.
