Man who took ₹1 crore loan to buy sandwich shop sells it for ₹67,000 crore. Here’s his story

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Peter Cancro bought a sandwich shop when he was a 17-year-old student after getting a $125,000 loan from his football coach. The shop, which he later renamed to Jersey Mike’s Subs and has nearly 3,000 outlets, has made him a billionaire.

Private equity giant Blackstone bought a majority stake in Cancro’s company Jersey Mike’s Subs which is valued at around $8 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Started with a loan from school teacher

As a high school student in 1975, Peter Cancro wanted to study law and political science at the University of North Carolina but his mother suggested that he buy the business he’d been working at since he was 14.

He laughed it off but later realised the potential of the idea. He called the restaurant owner the next day who gave him a week to find $125,000 if he wanted to buy the shop.

“It was something I really wanted to do. At that age, you don’t think you can fail,” he told Forbes.

He secured the loan from a former football coach who happened to be a banker and was impressed by Cancro’s business plan for the shop.

Almost half a century later, the chain has just under 3,000 locations across the world and in 2023, it brought in $3.3 billion in sales.

Had to fire all his staff, his brother

His company’s steady growth did not come without challenges. In 1991, four years after the company began franchising, it struggled to make money and Cancro was forced to fire all of his corporate staff, including his brother.

“It was a tough time: 1991 was my toughest recession, even beyond 2008,” Cancro said, adding that he thought about taking the company public or selling some of his stake but didn’t.

After the deal with Blackstone, Cancro will retain a minority but “significant” equity stake in Jersey Mike’s and continue to lead the company as CEO following the completion of the acquisition next year.

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