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Most CEOs issue a statement when things go wrong. But Jerry Murrell wrote checks. The 82-year-old founder and CEO of Five Guys made headlines after handing out $1.5 million in bonuses to his workers following a disastrous anniversary promotion. His reason? “I didn’t want anybody shooting me in the back or anything…” The remark landed like a thunderclap: a half-joke laced with real anxiety, quietly referencing one of the most shocking corporate killings in recent American memory. But to understand why it hit so hard, you have to start with the burger.
Five Guys celebrated its 40th birthday on February 17, 2026, by offering a buy-one-get-one-free burger promotion. The chain expected a modest uptick in foot traffic. What it got was a full-blown crisis. Murrell himself admitted the scale caught him completely off guard, telling Fortune: “I thought maybe increased sales like 20% or something. That was like 130%. So I felt I screwed up.”
The promo was so popular it crashed the Five Guys app and caused several locations to end it early, according to angry customers on social media. Workers were left scrambling, lines stretched out the door, and the backlash came fast. The fallout was serious enough that Five Guys issued two separate apologies. The first, on February 18th, acknowledged that staff had been placed in an unfair position. The second, on March 9th, they announced a do-over of the promotion.
The CEO Who Took the Hit
While most corporate leaders would have let the PR team clean up the mess, Murrell took a different route. He wrote checks to roughly 1,500 U.S. store employees, amounting to approximately $1,000 per worker. It was a direct acknowledgment that his people bore the weight of a mistake that started at the top, and he was not going to pretend otherwise.
In a candid phone call with Fortune, Murrell wove his quick wit between genuine concern for his employees, following what would otherwise be a logistical nightmare that would send CEOs reeling to their crisis comms teams. Instead, he stepped up, apologized first to his employees and then to the public, and said they would do it again — this time, correctly.
Five Guys’ first public statement read: “We let you down, and we’re sorry,” while also expressing regret for placing the chain’s hardworking crews in a difficult situation. A follow-up note in March brought the BOGO deal back for four days, giving customers a proper second chance. But the bonus checks were the move that said more than any press release could.
The Joke That Wasn’t Entirely a Joke
When Murrell quipped that he did not want anyone “shooting” him, he was not speaking into a vacuum. The comment was widely understood as a darkly humorous nod to the high-profile killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City in 2025, a case that put corporate leadership in the crosshairs of a broader national conversation about accountability.
Luigi Mangione, who went on to become something of a public icon, is accused of murdering the CEO of UnitedHealthcare in December 2024 on the streets of Manhattan. The case stirred a wide and unsettling debate about how the public views those at the top of large corporations, particularly in industries seen as prioritizing profit over people. Murrell’s offhand remark landed squarely in the middle of that conversation.
Although the situation may seem extreme, it is certainly a sign of the times that the managerial class is not only thinking about the animosity that members of the public have toward them but actively engaging in behavior they believe will address it, even if half-jokingly. Five Guys’ CMO Molly Catalano noted that Murrell “likes to joke in most conversations,” calling the headline comment an example of his typical style. But the context made it land differently.
What This Moment Says About Leadership
Jerry Murrell is not a typical fast-food executive. Five Guys remains one of the last major fast-food chains that are fully private and family-run. The name itself tells the story: Murrell and his wife Janie have five sons, and the next generation is already embedded in the business. That closeness to the company may explain why his response felt more personal than corporate.
Murrell joked that he had planned to buy his wife a new fur coat with the money, but spent it on the bonus instead, adding: “She still looks at me like I’m stupid. But I thought it was worth it. They worked so hard. They were so overwhelmed.” It was a punchline that doubled as a principle: when the company falls short, the people who showed up deserve to be recognized for it.
In an era where executive accountability is increasingly under a microscope, Murrell’s move stands out. The $1.5 million distributed to employees may not be life-changing, but compared to fast food wages, it is a significant bonus and far more than what most CEOs would have done — namely, say sorry and move on with little more than rhetoric. Whether he was joking about the danger or not, the checks were real. And that, more than any quip, is the story.