Who owns Whataburger?

By 1960, there were stores operating across Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Tennessee. Inspired by his love of flying, Dobson designed the orange and white striped A-frame logo in 1961.

Unfortunately, six years later Dobson and his associate died in a plane crash, and the company was taken over by Grace Dobson, Harmon's widow. Grace became Chairman of the Board for Whataburger.

The restaurant continued to grow and expand, and by 1987, Whataburger opened its 400th restaurant. In 1993, Tom Dobson, son of Grace and Harmon Dobson, became CEO and President of Whataburger. By 1995, the company opened its 500th store location. In 2001, a bill was passed proclaiming Whataburger to be a Texas Treasure.

By the end of the year, it had 728 stores operating in ten states. The Dobson family owned 611 stores, and the other 117 were owned and operated by about 25 franchisees.

Then in 2019, the Dobson family sold its majority stake in the company to BDT Capital, a Chicago-based investment company. The companies cited long-term expansion plans as one reason for the sale.

While the Dobson family still holds a small stake in the company, they are no longer the majority shareholder. BDT Capital Partners, which is based in Chicago, is best known in the restaurant industry for taking ownership of Krispy Kreme and Panera Bread.

Whataburger currently has an annual revenue of around 3 billion and has 43,000 employees working from one of their 850 locations across ten states.