The World’s Largest Fast-Food Franchisee Is Still Hungry For More

For the past decade, Greg Flynn has been America’s largest franchisee, and now he is the largest in the world. But he has a voracious appetite for more.  “The dream here is to create a global business with operating capabilities and success beyond what the world has seen,” says Flynn, the 62-year-old CEO and founder of Flynn Group and Flynn Properties. “Operating businesses, especially consumer-facing ones, are really hard. If you can do it well consistently, over multiple brands and multiple geographies and multiple industries, that is a valuable and defensible thing to do.” Over the past three decades, he has doubled down on fast food franchises again and again. With $5 billion in annual revenue from more than 3,000 franchises of Applebee’s, Taco Bell, Panera, Arby's, Pizza Hut, Wendy’s and now Planet Fitness in 44 states as well as Australia and New Zealand, Flynn’s portfolio is more than double the size of the next biggest franchisee.  Forbes estimates Flynn has about 25% ownership with some $2.5 billion in loans and over $100 million in cash on hand. At a valuation Forbes estimates of $5 billion, that means Flynn is worth an estimated $650 million. (Flynn declined to comment.) By Chloe Sorvino, Forbes Staff Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices