Shaquille O’Neal, whose 2019 agreement with Papa Johns helped usher in its comeback from a brutal sales slump, will not seek re-election to the pizza chain’s board, the company said on Wednesday.
The Atlanta-based pizza chain cited O’Neal’s business commitments as the reason for the decision. But Papa Johns also said that the former Los Angeles Lakers star will maintain his relationship with the company, as a restaurant owner and a “brand ambassador.”
O’Neal’s term on the board ends in May.
“Shaquille joined the board five years ago during a challenging time for the company, providing an important vote of confidence in its future potential, management team and board of directors,” Christopher Coleman, chairman of the Papa Johns board, said in a statement.
Papa Johns in 2019 was coming off a brutal controversy surrounding its founder and longtime CEO and chairman, John Schnatter, over comments he made on an earnings call and at a later internal conference call, when he used a racial slur.
Publicity over the comments hammered sales, led to closures of a number of restaurants and the end of its marketing deal with the NFL.
It also led to Schnatter’s complete exit from the company and the arrival of new investors and ultimately an overhauled management team.
O’Neal stepped into this that year, signing an $8 million deal with the pizza chain to invest in some restaurants and join the board. O’Neal is an investor in nine units in the Atlanta market and has appeared in the chain’s ads. Papa Johns also named a pepperoni-loaded pizza after its new ambassador, the Shaq-a-roni.
Papa Johns and O’Neal signed a three-year extension to that agreement in 2022.
“Papa Johns is in a much different place thanks, in part, to Shaquille’s involvement with the brand,” Papa Johns CEO Rob Lynch said in a statement. “We are supportive of his professional growth through his other business ventures and look forward to continuing to work with him through our marketing partnership and as a franchisee.”
O’Neal is “increasing the time he’s investing in new business ventures,” Papa Johns said. One of those ventures is Big Chicken, a fast-casual chain that O’Neal founded along with JRS Hospitality and Authentic Brands.
The business commitments “make it challenging to extend my board service for another term,” O’Neal said in a statement.
He said that he is “grateful for the valuable experience I gained on the Papa Johns board” and is “proud to have played a role in making the company culture into what it is today.”
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