News

Schnatter divests of 250K Papa John's shares

August 26, 2019

Papa John's founder and ousted executive, John Schnatter, is continuing to sell off his ownership in the brand, with the sale last week of another 250,000 shares in two days for a total of $10.73 million. Following an earlier sell-off in May, Schnatter now has slightly more than 5.25 million shares remaining in the brand he founded, according to the Business Journals. 

Last May, he held about 30 percent of Papa John's shares, but sold 3.5 million shares to UBS for $157.5 million late in the month. His remaining 5.25 million shares after last week's sale is slightly more than half of what he previously owned in the Louisville-based company. At 1 p.m. today, the brand was trading up from its close last Friday of $43.06. 

A little more than one year ago, the turmoil began in earnest for Schnatter after news broke that he used a racial slur during a media training call. In the days after, he left roles as CEO, chairman and board member. The brand has been working to recover from negative publicity following that event and earlier scandals involving Schnatter ever since.