Subway
Leadership History
4 leaders · 1965 to present
Jonathan Fitzpatrick is the CEO of Subway, in the role since 2025. The first chief executive was Fred DeLuca, from 1965.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Fitzpatrick | Chief Executive Officer | 2025 | Present | 1 |
| John Chidsey | Chief Executive Officer | 2019 | 2024 | 5 |
| Suzanne Greco | Chief Executive Officer | 2015 | 2019 | 4 |
| Fred DeLuca | Chief Executive Officer | 1965 | 2015 | 50 |
Subway is the largest sandwich chain in the U.S. by unit count and one of the largest restaurant brands in the world. It is entirely franchised, owned by Roark Capital since April 2024, and run from Miami. The U.S. system peaked above 27,000 units in the mid-2010s and has closed nearly 8,000 locations over the past decade, ending 2025 with 18,773. Corporate profit has nonetheless climbed, reaching $689 million in 2025. The company is headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut.
Subway owns no restaurants. Franchisees pay an upfront franchise fee plus a royalty of 8% or 10% of sales depending on their agreement, along with an advertising fund contribution. Subway also collects vendor rebates through its supply chain, which reached $136.5 million in 2025, or 14.8% of revenue, up from $44.7 million (5.4%) in 2021. The old development agent system, in which regional agents sold and monitored stores for a cut of royalties, was largely brought in-house under John Chidsey. Because stores need no fryers or hoods, they fit into small sites such as gas stations, airports and campuses.
Chief Executive Officer
2025 – Present
1 year (current)
Fitzpatrick managed the operational integration and supply chain alignment of Subway following its acquisition by Roark Capital.
He leads the ongoing effort to aggressively push digital sales and loyalty program adoption to compete with technologically advanced rivals like Domino's.
Chief Executive Officer
2019 – 2024
5 years
Chidsey orchestrated the massive $9.6 billion sale of Subway to the private equity firm Roark Capital Group in 2023.
As CEO, he ruthlessly closed thousands of underperforming legacy US stores while aggressively signing massive multi-unit master franchise agreements internationally to stabilize revenue.
Chief Executive Officer
2015 – 2019
4 years
Greco attempted to modernize the brand's stale menu and launched the 'Fresh Forward' store remodeling initiative during a period of severe sales declines.
She took over as CEO following the death of her brother (founder Fred DeLuca) and led the company through the immediate fallout of the Jared Fogle scandal before retiring in 2018.
Chief Executive Officer
1965 – 2015
50 years
DeLuca created an incredibly low-cost franchise model, allowing almost anyone to open a Subway with minimal capital, which drove explosive, unchecked growth.
He built the largest restaurant chain in the world by unit count, though his refusal to limit franchise density eventually led to stores cannibalizing each other's sales.
Subway operates in a mature, hyper-competitive global fast-food landscape while managing legacy store footprints and franchisee profitability. Key challenges include navigating historical domestic store over-saturation in the US; managing franchisee relationships through mandatory capital equipment upgrades (such as on-site automatic deli slicers and digital remodel requirements); defending market share against premium fast-casual sub competitors (Jersey Mike's, Firehouse Subs, Jimmy John's); managing food ingredient inflation across poultry, cold cuts, and dairy; and modernizing digital mobile app ordering and drive-thru capabilities across older urban strip-mall locations.
John Chidsey is the Chief Executive Officer of Subway, appointed in November 2019. Chidsey is the former Chairman and CEO of Burger King Holdings, where he led a major operational turnaround before its acquisition by 3G Capital.
Fred DeLuca served as CEO of Subway for exactly 50 years, from its founding in 1965 until his health forced him to step down shortly before his death in September 2015 at age 67. DeLuca was one of the longest-serving chief executives in global corporate history.
DeLuca was famous for traveling thousands of miles in his car visiting franchised stores unannounced, inspecting sandwich prep lines, and personally calling franchisees. He lived modestly, prioritized rapid store expansion above all else, and maintained complete control over corporate operations.
Suzanne Greco, Fred DeLuca's younger sister who joined the company in 1973 as a sandwich artist and later ran R&D, served as CEO from 2015 to 2018 following her brother's passing. Greco introduced the "Fresh Forward" store design, but stepped down amidst store closures, traffic declines, and franchisee friction.
Trevor Haynes, a veteran Subway executive who previously served as Chief Business Development Officer and ran European operations, served as Interim CEO from May 2018 until John Chidsey took the permanent role in late 2019.
Chidsey was the first outside, non-family executive ever hired to lead Subway. He fundamentally restructured corporate headquarters, streamlined middle management, overhauled the supplier network, settled legacy litigation, and prepared the company for its multi-billion-dollar private sale.
Carrie Walsh served as Global Chief Marketing Officer and later President of EMEA, leading the conceptualization and launch of the "Eat Fresh Refresh" and "Subway Series" campaigns, restoring cultural excitement to the brand.
In 2023, Chidsey transitioned Subway from its historic, isolated headquarters in Milford, Connecticut, opening a modernized North American corporate headquarters in Shelton, Connecticut, and a second major global business hub in Miami, Florida, to tap into international talent.
John Chidsey and the board conducted a competitive, year-long auction managed by JPMorgan, attracting private equity bids from Bain Capital, TPG, and Advent International before selecting Roark Capital's $9.55 billion winning proposal.
Chidsey focuses on data-driven retail execution: cutting operational complexity, eliminating low-performing initiatives, partnering with multi-unit corporate franchisees, and aligning corporate brand strategy directly with franchisee store-level profitability.
Dr. Peter Buck served as co-owner and trusted senior advisor throughout Subway's history, providing calm counsel and long-term perspective to Fred DeLuca while donating hundreds of millions of dollars to land conservation in Maine.
Roark Capital has retained John Chidsey and his leadership team to operate Subway as a standalone business within its portfolio, combining Subway's global brand power with Roark's multi-brand supply chain and operational expertise.
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