PAPA JOHNS INTERNATIONAL INC

1984–2009

Papa John's restaurant was founded in 1984 when "Papa" John Schnatter installed an oven inside a broom closet in the back of his father's tavern, Mick's Lounge, in Jeffersonville, Indiana. He sold his 1971 Camaro Z28 to buy US$1,600 worth of used pizza equipment and began selling pizzas to the tavern's customers out of the converted closet. A year later, he moved into an adjoining space. Papa John's also introduced a dipping sauce for pizza that year.

The company went public in 1993 following an initial public offering, becoming listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol PZZA. A year later it had 500 stores, and by 1997 it had opened 1,500 stores. In 2009, Schnatter bought the Camaro back after offering a reward of $250,000 for the car.

2010s

The first notable Bitcoin retail transaction involving physical goods was paid on May 22, 2010, by exchanging 10,000 mined BTC for two pizzas delivered from a Papa John's on Atlantic Boulevard in Jacksonville, Florida. Some cryptocurrency users have celebrated May 22 as "Bitcoin Pizza Day".

Schnatter's departure

Schnatter stepped down as CEO of Papa John's Pizza on January 1, 2018, in favor of company president Steve Ritchie, while remaining chairman. Papa John's and the NFL ended their sponsorship agreement after Schnatter blamed the NFL kneeling controversy for declining same-store sales across Papa John's franchises.

Schnatter resigned as chairman of the company's board of directors on July 18, 2018, after admitting that he had used a racial slur during a meeting.

The activist hedge fund Starboard Value invested $200 million in Papa John's in February 2019. Starboard CEO Jeff Smith become the chairman, and former Pinnacle Entertainment CEO Anthony Sanfilippo joined the board. Papa John's later reached a settlement with Schnatter under which he left the company's board of directors, withdrew his lawsuits, and abandoned plans to seek another board seat. The company also relaxed restrictions that

Schnatter began selling his shares in May 2019 and reduced his ownership stakes to 4% over the following year. Arby's President Robert M. Lynch replace Steve Ritchie as CEO in August 2019.

2020s

Papa John's established a new global headquarters at Three Ballpark Center at The Battery Atlanta in the Atlanta metropolitan area in 2020. Its existing headquarters in Jeffersontown, Kentucky was retained for its IT, supply chain, and legal departments.

Papa Johns suspended its business operations in Russia in March 2022 in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, but independent franchisee-owned locations remained open.

Todd Penegor was named President and CEO in August 2024.

Papa Johns announced plans to close 300 of its 3,500 U.S. restaurants by the end of 2027, and reduce its corporate workforce by approximately 7% to cut costs after declining sales.