Graves: Private Equity Ruins Fast Food by Cutting Wages and Quality
Todd Graves · How Todd Graves Built Raising Cane's · Nov 9, 2025 · at 43:00
Todd Graves, founder and CEO of Raising Cane's, explains why he refuses to sell his restaurant chain to private equity firms.
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“When you lose that founder personal, that this is their baby, you start making the wrong decisions right now. You really do. And so, so profit equity, they have their shareholders and they have to make a certain amount of money. They're not getting the returns on their dollar. They'll make other decisions that will go. Maybe they price. Maybe they raise their prices and maybe it's not the right time to raise their prices. Maybe they cut their quality. Maybe they cut wages. For crew. Maybe they do, maybe they don't do the bonus plug.”
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