Jimmy John Liautaud

Jimmy John Liautaud founded his eponymous sandwich chain at age 19 with a $25,000 loan from his father. Liautaud went from spending late nights delivering subs to college students from a converted garage to operating 2,800 Jimmy John's locations before selling the business in October 2019. Born in 1964 in suburban Arlington Heights, Illinois, Liautaud was the second of four children born to serial entrepreneur and Army veteran James Liautaud and elementary school teacher Gina Liautaud. The first Jimmy John's was in a garage in an alleyway near bars frequented by Eastern Illinois University in Charleston students. Within three years, he opened secondary locations in two other Illinois college towns, Macomb and Champaign. Liautaud began to sell Jimmy John's franchises in 1993. The chain opened its 2,000th location in 2014, according to the Jimmy John's website. The sandwich chain now says it has over 2,800 stores. Same-store sales began to slip in 2014, and have fallen every year since. Jimmy John's is still ranked among the best franchise opportunities. He sold his remaining stake to Roark Capital in October 2019. The sandwich chain is now owned by Roark subsidiary and Arby's owner Inspire Brands, which also owns Sonic Drive-In and Buffalo Wild Wings. The billionaire and his wife launched the Liautaud Family Foundation in 2017 to coordinate their philanthropic efforts. Liautaud has also donated $1 million to his alma mater, private Illinois prep school Elgin Academy, in 2008 and to the Horatio Alger Association. Leslie Liautaud is a professional writer.