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<ul class="summary-list"><li>A video of <keyword id="9435836" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jimmy-johns">Jimmy John's</keyword> employees creating a noose out of dough and pretending to hang a worker, while laughing, went viral over the 4th of July weekend. </li><li>"We have zero tolerance for <keyword id="44060" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Racism">racism</keyword> or discrimination in any form," Jimmy John's said on Twitter. "The franchisee has taken immediate action and the employees have been terminated." </li><li>People are also criticizing Jimmy John's founder James John Liautaud, who is a major Trump donor and has faced controversy in the past for his big game hunting hobby. </li></ul><p>Jimmy John's has fired a group of employees after a video emerged of the workers creating a noose made out of bread dough. </p><p>A video of the incident shows one employee helping place a noose made out of bread dough around the neck of another worker at a Jimmy John's location in Woodstock, Georgia. The employees, as well as at least one other worker at the sandwich shop, all appear to be laughing and joking as the noose is tightened around the worker's neck. </p><p>The video was posted on Snapchat with a filter reading "Happy 4th of July." As the video was shared on social media, it quickly prompted backlash and disgust. </p><p>Jimmy John's said in a statement that the employees involved have been fired. </p><p>"We have zero tolerance for racism or discrimination in any form," Jimmy John's said in a tweet. "The franchisee has taken immediate action and the employees have been terminated. The actions seen in this video are completely unacceptable and do not represent the Jimmy John's brand."</p><p>Some people took the <a href="https://twitter.com/MrErnestOwens/status/1280207166612418564">viral</a> video as an opportunity to <a href="https://twitter.com/RingJames_6/status/1280156923602636801">highlight</a> controversies related to Jimmy John's founder, James John Liautaud.</p><p>Liautaud has faced controversy in the past over his big game hunting hobby, which included hunting <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/jimmy-john-liautaud-hunting-photos/">elephants and rhinoceros.</a> More recently, Liautaud and his wife have supported <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-jimmy-johns-billionaire-trump-donor-jimmy-john-liautaud-2020-5#liautaud-and-his-wifes-donations-include-100000-to-president-trumps-reelection-bid-9">President Trump's campaign, with a $100,000 to the president's reelection. </a></p><p>While the sandwich chain is named after him and <a href="https://www.jimmyjohns.com/about-us/our-founder/">highlights his role as founder,</a> Liautaud no longer owns Jimmy John's. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2019/09/25/inspire-brands-expands-its-restaurant-empire-purchasing-jimmy-johns-at-undisclosed-price/#3ae2d48e4192">Liautaud sold his remaining Jimmy John's shares </a>last year when Inspire Brands, which also owns Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Sonic, acquired the sandwich chain. </p><p>"As part of this acquisition, <keyword id="9528149" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jimmy-john-liautaud">Jimmy John Liautaud</keyword> stepped down as chairman, and he no longer leads the company," Inspire Brands representative Jack D'amato told Business Insider. "His interests and political affiliations are as a private citizen, and we will have to defer any comments to him."</p><p>Amid recent <keyword id="2771111" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="black-lives-matter">Black Lives Matter</keyword> protests, there have been numerous sightings of nooses, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/bubba-wallace-a-noose-and-how-a-racist-symbol-hung-at-talladega-for-months-11593082800">a racist symbol</a> associated with the lynchings of Black people. Home Depot <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/home-depot-rope-sales-nooses-in-stores-2020-7">recently changed the way US locations sell rope</a> after a woman said she found two nooses in the aisle of a store. </p><p>"Unfortunately, we've had some instances where spooled rope was used to create hate symbols and we're not going to tolerate it," Home Depot spokesperson Margaret Watters Smith said in a statement. "Out of an abundance of caution, we temporarily removed spooled rope from our aisles."</p>

Jimmy John's fires employees after they make noose out of bread dough and fake hanging themselves in a viral video

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Jimmy John's founder and CEO Jimmy John Liautaud is under fire after photos of him allegedly posing with dead elephants, rhinoceros, and a leopard appeared on the internet.&#xa0;<p><span>The photographs, allegedly taken during a 2010 safari in Africa, have sparked calls for a boycott of the sandwich chain, <a href="http://www.grubstreet.com/2015/08/jimmy-johns-hunting.html">Grub Street reports</a>.</span></p><p>The photos began circulating online&#xa0;this week after a <a href="https://twitter.com/JonahLupton">Twitter user shared them</a> with his nearly one million followers.</p><p>An image was also posted to <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/3f10pp/this_is_jimmy_john_liautaud_owner_of_fast_food/">Reddit</a>, and was viewed more than a quarter million times before being taken down. &#xa0;</p><p><div></div></p><p class="embed-spacer">Jimmy John's has not responded to Business Insider's request for comment.</p><p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>There's nothing to suggest any illegal activity in the photographs.&#xa0;</span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>But the calls for boycotts could affect business for a company that's reportedly <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2015/05/26/sandwich-chain-jimmy-johns-prepares-ipo-sources.html">preparing to go public</a>&#xa0;- especially considering the public uproar following the&#xa0;</span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cecil-the-lions-killer-revealed-as-an-american-dentist-2015-7">recent killing of an African lion named "Cecil"</a>.&#xa0;</span></span></p><p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>The Minnesota dentist who killed the lion was reportedly forced to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dentist-accused-of-killing-a-lion-closed-his-practice-2015-7">shut down his practice</a> following the public firestorm.</span></span></p><p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This isn't the first time the photographs allegedly showing&#xa0;<span>Liautaud</span>&#xa0;and his "trophy kills" have surfaced publicly. Animal rights activists have been circulating them online for years, according to t<span>he&#xa0;</span><a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-23/news/ct-talk-lisa-black-boycott-20130924_1_boycott-bp-tribune-voices-choices">Chicago Tribune</a><span>.&#xa0;</span></span></p><p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on the safari photos in response to a 2013 request by the </span><a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-23/news/ct-talk-lisa-black-boycott-20130924_1_boycott-bp-tribune-voices-choices">Tribune</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.&#xa0;</span></p><p class="embed-spacer"></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">A watermark on the photos suggests they were taken during a 2010 hunting safari led by Johan Calitz Safaris. "<span>Johan Calitz Safaris offers fair-chase dangerous and plains-game safaris to the discerning hunter in remote wilderness areas in Africa," the company's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JohanCalitzSafaris/info?tab=page_info">Facebook page says</a>.&#xa0;</span></span><p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span></span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>We reached out to the safari company for comment.&#xa0;</span></span></p><p class="embed-spacer"><span>A magazine called The Hunting Report, which records big-game hunting expeditions, has several records of hunts by a "Jimmy John Liautaud," including some led by Johan Calitz Safaris.</span></p><p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>According to the records, a&#xa0;"<span>Jimmy John&#xa0;<span>Liautaud</span>" has hunted for elephant, zebra, leopard, lynx, rhinoceros, and other animals. </span></span></span></p><p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span>Here's one example of a hunting record in that name:</span></span></span></p><p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></span></span></span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/slacking-red-bull-backflip-sport-baylines-2015-6">People doing backflips on a two-inch wide strap is a real sport called slacklining</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="J1cDZvdToyxik-Ww0y-RX8k6QQqJs9ZD" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Jimmy John's CEO is under fire for photos showing him allegedly hunting big-game animals

<p>The countdown to Election Day 2020 is in the double digits, and the stakes have never seemed higher. </p><p>The United States has fallen behind on its battle against the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-cases-maps-us-world-spread-symptoms-death-rate-2020-1">coronavirus pandemic</a>, tech companies have become the newest front of growing tensions with China, and more than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-jobless-claims-labor-market-unemployment-insurance-filings-coronavirus-recession-2020-8">55 million</a> Americans lost their jobs in the last 20 weeks.</p><p>Though every American citizen will have the opportunity to have their say in the ballot box about who should occupy the White House next year, some ultrawealthy Americans have been using their fortunes to sway the outcome for years. During this election cycle, American <keyword id="6393637" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Billionaires">billionaires</keyword> have given millions to campaigns, organized get out the vote efforts, and undertaken major advertising efforts.</p><p>Keep reading to learn more about how the three-comma-club had influenced the <keyword id="7600569" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="2020-election">2020 election</keyword>.</p><p><strong>Business Insider keeps tabs on all the billionaires giving to presidential candidates. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/prime">You can read all our coverage of the billionaires involved in the 2020 election by subscribing to Business Insider.</a></strong></p><h2><strong>Biden's <keyword id="25931" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="billionaire">billionaire</keyword> backers</strong></h2><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-billionaire-donors-bankrolling-joe-biden-2020-presidential-campaign-2020-6?r=election-billionaires-lp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meet the billionaires bankrolling Joe Biden's 2020 campaign</a></p><h2><strong><keyword id="6354862" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="trump">Trump</keyword>'s billionaire backers</strong></h2><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-billionaire-donors-bankrolling-trump-2020-campaign-2020-5?r=election-billionaires-lp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meet the billionaires bankrolling Trump's 2020 campaign</a></p><h2><strong>Billionaire donors who dumped Trump</strong></h2><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaires-who-supported-trump-2016-but-bailed-2020-icahn-pritzker-2020-7?r=election-billionaires-lp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump has lost the financial support of some of the billionaires who bankrolled his 2016 campaign — take a look at who's dropping out in 2020</a></p><h2>Get to know the individual largest donors</h2><p><strong>Marvel's Ike Perlmutter</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-marvel-billionaire-ike-perlmutter-trump-disney-net-worth-2020-6?r=election-billionaires-lp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meet reclusive Marvel billionaire Ike Perlmutter, who is close with Trump, wrestled control of the comic-book maker from Carl Icahn, and reportedly wore a fake mustache and glasses to disguise himself at an 'Ironman' premiere</a></p><p><strong>Jimmy John's Jimmy John Liautaud</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-jimmy-johns-billionaire-trump-donor-jimmy-john-liautaud-2020-5?r=election-billionaires-lp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The billionaire founder of Jimmy John's donated $100,000 to Trump's reelection campaign and once hunted elephants — meet the controversial man behind one of America's favorite sandwich chains</a></p><p><strong>Las Vegas Sands' Sheldon Adelson</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-sheldon-adelson-billionaire-casino-mogul-megamansion-trump-2019-5?r=election-billionaires-lp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meet the casino billionaire behind The Venetian and Marina Bay Sands, who's worth $37 billion, lives in a Vegas mansion, and has donated more than $25 million to Trump</a></p><p><strong>New York City supermarket chain Gristedes Foods' John Catsimatidis</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-gristedes-billionaire-john-catsimatidis-trump-supporter-james-bond-republican?r=election-billionaires-lp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meet New York grocery billionaire John Catsimatidis, the outspoken Trump supporter who sleeps with James Bond's gun under his pillow and used a controversial facial recognition app to spy on his daughter's date</a></p><p><strong>Philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/laurene-powell-jobs-net-worth-life-career-spending-habits-2018-10?r=election-billionaires-lp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meet billionaire investor Laurene Powell Jobs, the wife of the late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, who could be one of the most important donors in the 2020 election</a></p><p><strong>LinkedIn's Reed Hoffman</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reid-hoffman-career-life-2017-11?r=election-billionaires-lp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How LinkedIn's founder went from studying philosophy at Oxford to building a $26.2 billion company</a></p>

BIG MONEY IN POLITICS: Meet the billionaire donors shaping the 2020 presidential election

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Jimmy John's has come a long way since 1983, when Jimmy John Liautaud opened his first sandwich shop.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Thursday, Jimmy John's announced that Roark Capital Group had signed an agreement to acquire a majority interest in the company. Neither party disclosed the price, but the sandwich chain was </span><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-jimmyjohns-ipo-exclusive-idUSKBN0OB2KB20150526"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reportedly valued at $2 billion when it prepared to&#xa0;IPO in 2015.</span></a></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jimmy John's started 33 years ago as a single location in Charleston, Illinois. Liautaud, a recent high-school graduate, opened the sandwich shop - which had just four sandwiches on the menu - after taking out a $25,000 loan from his father.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">"The</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#xa0;location was surrounded by bars," Liautaud says about&#xa0;the first shop on <a href="https://www.jimmyjohns.com/about-us/our-story/">Jimmy John's website.</a>&#xa0;"Perfect! Students drink, they get hungry, I'd stay open late, and I would feed them. Boom!"</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 10 years, Liautaud opened 10 locations. Soon, Jimmy John's began franchising and expanding across the US. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Liautaud is upfront about problems the company encountered while&#xa0;expanding, especially when franchising locations instead of keeping all sandwich shops company run. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2002, Jimmy John's had 160 shops - but, according to Liautaud, 70 were failing. So, he stopped selling franchises, and took 18 months to focus on damage control. While seven shops closed down, Liautaud says he was able to help turn business around at the rest.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I learned a lot from that experience so I changed the rules for allowing people to buy into my system as a franchisee," he writes&#xa0;on the company website. "I explained in detail how tough running a Jimmy John's can be. I explained the long hours, the unforgiving weather, the late nights, the weekends, and all of the sacrifices that go along with the industry. I made it tough for people to get into the system."</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Focusing on franchising helped Jimmy John's become one of the hottest franchise concepts in the US. Last year, the chain was named No. 1 on Entrepreneur Magazine's <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/jimmyjohnssandwiches/282480">Franchise&#xa0;500 list</a>.</span></p><p><div>    </div></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The chain emphasizes its lack of artificial ingredients and use of fresh produce. Also key - Jimmy John's is focused on speed: Liautaud </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="http://nrn.com/top-100/2015-top-100-why-jimmy-johns-no-7-fastest-growing-chain">claims</a></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#xa0;his workers can make a sandwich in 60 seconds flat. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, the Jimmy John's has faced some problems in recent years.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In 2014, the chain</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jimmy-johns-noncompete-agreements-2014-10"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> faced backlash - and a lawsuit - </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">for requiring employees to sign noncompete agreements, meaning they couldn't work for competitors such as Subway or Potbelly for two years after leaving their jobs. Jimmy John's <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/sandwich-chain-jimmy-johns-to-drop-noncompete-clauses-from-hiring-packets-1466557202">reportedly stopped recommending franchisees use&#xa0;noncompete agreements</a>&#xa0;later in 2014, and officially agreed to stop including the agreement in hiring documents in New York as part of a settlement with the New York attorney general's office in</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#xa0;June 2016.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jimmy John's also received some negative press <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-jimmyjohns-ipo-exclusive-idUSKBN0OB2KB20150526">in 2011</a>&#xa0;when Liautaud&#xa0;threatened to move the company's headquarters from Illinois to a more tax-friendly state. The founder never followed through on the threat, and the company&#xa0;remains headquartered in&#xa0;<span>Champaign, Illinois.&#xa0;</span></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last year,</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jimmy-johns-ceo-under-fire-for-alleged-hunting-photos-2015-8"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Liautaud came under fire</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> after photos surfaced of him posting with dead elephants, a rhinoceros, and a leopard taken during a 2010 safari. He has since said he </span><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-jimmy-johns-1104-biz-20151103-story.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">doesn't hunt big African game anymore.</span></a></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Liautaud will continue to serve as chairman of Jimmy John's board of directors and remain the company's largest single individual shareholder following Roark's acquisition. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I've spent two years getting to know the Roark team," Liautaud said in a statement on Thursday. "They are best-in-class people that have the knowledge and expertise that will help us take this brand to the next level." </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jimmy John's is just the latest in a long list&#xa0;of chains acquired by Roark. The private equity firm </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">is the majority owner of restaurant chains including Arby's and CKE Restaurant (the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's), as well as concepts outside of the food business, such as Drybar and Anytime Fitness. </span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/peanut-butter-banana-and-honey-sandwich-recipe-2016-5">Here's how to upgrade your boring peanut butter sandwich</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1tbzVhMzE6QUiyFaLZWIr9z7kfWzkFlk" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

How a 19-year-old turned a sandwich shop into a billion-dollar business

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/8Qyh33BQ5M/?taken-by=chickfila">@chickfila on Instagram</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>As chains like Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, and Panera have become such an essential part of our vocabulary, sometimes it is easy to forget their humble beginnings. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, even the biggest fast-food chains in the world started with a simple idea, a single location, and the perfect name. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The manner in which chains came up with their iconic names is often a little more complicated than you may think. For some, the connection is obvious, like McDonald's, which was named after the founding McDonald's brothers, or Jimmy John's, named after founder Jimmy John </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Liautaud. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are the others - seven restaurant chains whose origins may surprise even the most informed fast-food customer. </span></p>

You Searched For "jimmy john liautaud" and got 5 results

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