Chicken outlet owner buys 50,000 Mega Millions tickets for employees [Update]
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Chicken food store Raising Cane's restaurant is hoping to win a jackpot for its workers. The founder of the fast-food chain specializing in chicken fingers, Todd Graves, announced Monday he has purchased 50,000 Mega Millions lottery tickets.
Graves said if any of the 50,000 tickets in Tuesday’s game is the lucky number, each of its employees would win thousands based on current calculations.
Raising Cane’s founder Todd Graves announced Monday he has purchased 50,000 Mega Millions lottery tickets. VIDEO: 10 Tampa Bay
CEO Todd Graves and co-CEO AJ Kumara will share the $810 million prize with all employees if one of the tickets hits the jackpot, which would come out to about $16,200 for each worker.
Graves showed off the $100,000 purchase with a video of multiple Mega Millions tickets being printed along with the caption, "POV: You just bought 50,000 Mega Millions tickets for your Raising Cane's crewmembers."
"Buying 50,000 lottery tickets is harder than you think! Hoping to share the winning jackpot with our 50,000 RaisingCanes Crew." Graves wrote on Twitter.
The company was obviously hoping that the Mega Millions game would produce some wins after 28 consecutive drawings without a winner.
Raising Cane's co-CEO AJ Kumara was interviewed about the company’s Mega Millions ticket purchases. VIDEO: Yahoo FInance
The Daily Mail said that Raising Cane's currently employed more than 49,000 employees at 650 locations around the US and the Middle East. But Kumaran is uncertain about how the company, which started in 2006, will distribute the funds.
Raising Cane's co-CEO AJ Kumara said that a crew of about 25 people will be be given a stack of tickets to scan after the win.
'There's a lot to be figured out,' he said. 'It's uncharted territory. I think there's some legal things that we have to follow, so we are figuring that out. Let's see if we win.'
After the draw, Kumaran said that a crew of about 25 people will be given a stack of tickets to scan immediately.
UPDATE
Co-founder Todd Graves went back for another bite at the Mega Millions prize. He spent another $100,000 for a further set of 50,000 lottery tickets for the July 29 drawing.
Raising Cane’s co-founder Todd Graves with the company mascot.
Unfortunately, there was no reporting back from the company of the $1 million or even smaller prize wins.
However, Raising Cane's gesture has raised a lot of goodwill for the company and its employees.
But the main benefit has been the publicity surrounding the move, which has resulted in free advertising as the company was interviewed on the network morning shows.
Mattress Mack owner Jim McIngvale lost $16 million on Astros bets.
It's not unusual for businesses to take advantage of this kind of free publicity. As an example, one of the owners of 'Mattress Mack' bet $9.5 million on the Cincinnati Bengals to win the Super Bowl.
He lost, but owner Jim McIngvale and his Texas-based furniture store became known as he made the sports radio rounds talking about his large wagers and promoting his store.
