Founder and former CEO of the Papa John’s pizza company, John Schnatter, has sold a significant slice of his stock in the company. The self-styled “Papa John” of the company, Schnatter, sold 1.9 million shares Wednesday valued at $107.5 million, and now owns approximately 9.2 percent of the company—meaning he is still the largest shareholder.
A C-suite clear-out, better than expected Q3 results, and positive same-store sales growth for the first time in 2 years sent shares climbing by over 7 percent in early trading on Wednesday before stabilizing at gains of around 4.7 percent. Papa John’s overall share price had risen by almost 44 percent before Wednesday’s jump.
