FAT Brands Continues To Perform Amid Uncertainty at the Top

FAT Brands, the parent franchisor to 16 different food service concepts, is reporting satisfactory performance in the first half of 2024 despite the recent federal indictment of its former CEO, Andy Wiederhorn. Wiederhorn was charged with wire fraud, tax evasion and other federal charges associated with an alleged loan scheme that misappropriated about $27 million from the company, redirecting it to Wiederhorn’s personal expenses and often leaving the company without the funds it needed to support its own bills.

Though he stepped down as CEO, Wiederhorn still serves as chairman of the board. And despite the recent controversy surrounding Wiederhorn’s business practices, the brands under the FAT Brands umbrella themselves have continued to do quite well.

After its 2021 acquisition of Fazoli’s and Twin Peaks, FAT Brands has continued to build growth pipelines for both brands, and they continue to perform well.

Twin Peaks, for example, is on track to open 14 to 17 more locations this year, and it is targeting areas like the Mid-Atlantic, Pennsylvania, Denver and even Canada for ongoing growth. Joe Hummel, the CEO of Twin Peaks, told Franchise Times that the brand itself is largely unaffected by the legal challenges facing Wiederhorn and parent company FAT Brands.

“We are very siloed and pretty much stand on our own as a company without shared services,” he said. “Because of that we have been able to operate successfully with the platform above us but really on our own.”

While FAT Brands continues to face legal challenges and scrutiny of its financial performance, the soaring success of companies under it, like Twin Peaks, supports a better balance sheet for the parent franchisor and ecosystem of brands.

With ongoing uncertainty at the top, FAT Brands has not slowed its business plans. The team is expressing pleasure with the performance of recently acquired brands and notes an intent to support the ongoing expansion of Fazoli’s and Twin Peaks. An initial public offering (IPO) for Twin Peaks and Smokey Bones, opening the floor for everyday investors to become a part of the brands’ futures.