Steak ‘n Shake exec targets Cracker Barrel with ‘Fire the CEO’ billboard: ‘We are responsible’
Following criticism from fans regarding the change to its popular “Old Timer” logo, Cracker Barrel is now facing heat from investors and even a competing executive, who is responsible for a billboard reading “Fire the CEO.”
The purchaser of the billboard in Nashville, Tennessee, is the CEO of Steak ‘n Shake, Sardar Biglari, the fast food chain confirmed on Thursday, Sept. 18, in a social media post.
Biglari, who is a longtime investor in Cracker Barrel and owns nearly 3% of the company’s shares, is leading a proxy battle to get rid of Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino, according to a Sept. 18 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Masino has served in the role since July 2023.
“Yes, we are responsible for this billboard,” Steak ‘n Shake’s post on X reads. “Cracker Barrel’s board has failed its shareholders. It has spent over a decade fighting with one of its largest shareholders rather than collaborating for the good of the company.”
Steak n’ Shake’s post adds that Cracker Barrel “has been at the forefront of the (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) movement,” however, the chain has since “reduced food quality and burned millions on failed acquisitions.”
“Now, we are running a proxy contest at our own expense to fire the CEO. Biglari is doing the work left undone by the board,” the post continues, echoing similar points raised in Biglari’s proxy filing with the SEC. “Fire the CEO! Save Cracker Barrel!”
In a statement emailed to USA TODAY on Friday, Sept. 19, Cracker Barrel further confirmed that Biglari is behind the billboard.
“This billboard … is exactly the sort of stunt we would expect from him,” the statement reads. “For fourteen years, our shareholders have rejected his self-serving campaigns against Cracker Barrel. Launching personal attacks from billboards to attempt to disrupt a business like Cracker Barrel is not what serious or well-intentioned investors do and not what Tennesseans expect or deserve.”
Since 2011, Biglari has run seven proxy contests at Cracker Barrel, according to The Wall Street Journal. In an SEC filing dated Sept. 18, Biglari said he and his associates own 654,141 Cracker Barrel shares, or 2.9% of the company’s stock.
During an investor call following Cracker Barrel’s fourth quarter earnings report on Sept. 17, Craig Pemmelis, the company’s chief financial officer, said customer traffic for the first half of August was down approximately 1%. Since Aug. 19, the date of the official logo change, traffic dropped approximately 8%, he continued, adding that the company now expects a further decline of 7% to 8% if similar trends continue.
