Domino's ex-CEO bought nearly $4,000 worth of pizza in a year — and the company paid for it

• Former Domino's CEO Ritch Allison bought $3,919 worth of pizza in 2021, the Financial Times found.
• Allison's nearly $4,000 expense in 2021 was tame compared to previous years.

When former Domino's CEO Ritch Allison retired from the fast food chain in 2022, he said the job had been the "privilege of a lifetime."

Part of that privilege? A personal pizza allowance.

The former CEO was compensated for a nearly $4,000 personal pizza expense, the Financial Times reported, citing Domino's proxy filing from last year.

Under Domino's 2021 executive compensation — which includes expenses like using the company's private jet, team member awards, and cost-of-living allowances — Allison is listed as receiving $3,919 for personal pizza purchases.

However, the $3,919 pizza payment was a drop in the bucket for Allison that year. His total compensation in 2021 was $7,138,002.

That year, the only executive who came close to spending as much on pizza was Russell Weiner, the newly appointed Domino's CEO, who tapped out at $2,810 in personal pizza purchases in 2021.

As FT points out, the previous proxy shows Allison's nearly $4,000 in pizza in 2021 was relatively tame. In 2020, during the onset of the pandemic, Allison's pizza purchases totaled $6,126, the filing shows.

Tim Powell, a Chicago restaurant consultant, said free food perks come with the job, so it's not surprising to see Domino's executives getting reimbursed for pizza expenses. "You wouldn't want Mr. Allison to buy Pizza Hut or worse, say he hates pizza," Powell told Insider. "The head of the company needs to also be the head of the brand."

A Domino's spokesperson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment ahead of publication.

Allison worked at Domino's for more than decade, and was the chain's chief executive for four years. He retired in spring 2022. During his tenure as CEO, Allison pushed innovation and a culture of risk-taking at the tech-forward company. Over the years, Domino's has tested conversational AI for taking orders, launched a pilot self-driving delivery program with autonomous vehicle maker Nuro, and built a 33,000-square foot tech lab at its Ann Arbor, Michigan headquarters.

But, Allison was best known for refusing to implement a common strategy: working with third-party delivery apps like DoorDash and UberEats. While rivals like Pizza Hut and Papa John's partnered with delivery apps, Domino's kept its delivery operation in-house to avoid paying delivery companies commission fees that eat into profits.

"Let's be very clear, these aggregators are ultimately competitors of the restaurant companies that they serve," Allison told Nation's Restaurant News in 2019.

When he retired last year, he said Domino's and its franchises "achieved tremendous growth and today the Domino's brand is as strong as ever."

Curious what $3, 919 gets you in Domino's pizza pies? You can read the full breakdown over at FT.