The CEO of a fast-food chain has bought thousands of lottery tickets for a chance to win a $1bn jackpot, with the promise that, if one proves to be a winner, the take-home will be equally shared among his 50,000 employees.
Todd Graves, the founder and chief executive of Louisiana-based Raising Cane’s, told the Miami Herald that he purchased enough tickets from the Mega Millions Jackpot – now valued at $1.02bn – to represent each of his fast-food chain’s 50,000 workers.
The jackpot, reported to be the fourth-largest lottery prize of all time and third-largest Mega Millions prize, would be split between each of the franchise’s employees across its more than 340 restaurants in 23 states.
“As soon as we heard how big this jackpot prize is, we couldn’t miss out on the chance to win the Mega Millions jackpot and share it with our Crew who always stand together,” the CEO of the 1996-founded fast-food chain told the Miami Herald when the pot was valued at $830m.
On Tuesday night, however, when the lottery prize was drawn, no winner had the matching six numbers to take home the ever-growing grand prize.
Winners of the lottery have the option to either have their earnings paid out yearly, or to take the immediate cash payout, though this would result in a less valuable option, tallying in at $602.5m before taxes.
“None of what we do at Cane’s would be possible without our Crew, which is why we are always looking for ways to bring them a little extra fun, and if we’re lucky, a surprise on Wednesday morning,” said Mr Graves ahead of Tuesday night’s draw.
The new draw is now scheduled for Friday evening and if one of the chief executive’s tickets is the lucky winner, that would amount to a bonus of approximately $12,050 per employee (before taxes) if the owner opts to take the immediate cash out option.
