Cracker Barrel to pay Julie Felss Masino’s’s – Business News
Cracker Barrel plans to cowl outgoing CEO Julie Felss Masino’s security prices and pay her tens of millions in exit charges following the chain’s disastrous rebrand attempt final yr, in accordance to experiences.
The Southern eating chain will proceed paying an unspecified quantity for Masino’s safety for as long because the board deems it “reasonably necessary” after she leaves the company in October, in accordance to a regulatory submitting reported by Bloomberg.
Masino – who’s set to step down as CEO on Aug. 10 and keep on in an advisory capability by means of the autumn – can even obtain $4.6 million in exit funds over two years, in accordance to filings obtained by the Wall Street Journal.
Cracker Barrel plans to cowl outgoing CEO Julie Felss Masino’s security prices, in accordance to a report. REUTERS
Meanwhile, Cracker Barrel has wooed incoming CEO David Deno with guarantees of a $1 million annual wage; $465,000 in relocation bills to Nashville, Tenn.; a company condominium; and twice month-to-month journeys back to his home in St. Petersburg, Fla., for up to six months, the Journal reported.
Cracker Barrel didn’t reply to The Post’s inquiries about how a lot it has spent on Masino’s security up to now.
The Lebanon, Tenn.-based company is determined to transfer previous its “woke” rebrand controversy, which noticed Masino attempt to appeal to youthful clients final August by modernizing restaurant places and axing folksy farmer Uncle Herschel from the company brand.
Cracker Barrel’s stock and its store gross sales declined as outraged clients and even President Trump revolted in opposition to the modifications, which had been rapidly reversed.
While it’s uncommon to offer paid security providers to CEOs with no time restrict after their exit, it’s simply the newest instance of mounting security issues following a sequence of violent assaults, beginning with the deadly capturing of a UnitedHealthcare govt in Midtown Manhattan in 2024.
In July 2025, 4 people had been killed in a capturing in a Midtown Manhattan workplace building.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s San Francisco home was focused in an tried firebombing incident earlier this yr whereas California cops have reportedly responded to a slew of threats in opposition to Anthropic and OpenAI employees as public opinion of the new tech sours.
Incoming Cracker Barrel CEO David Deno. Business Wire through AP
“There is a general animus directed to leaders in highly compensated positions,” Dave Komendat, former security chief at Boeing who now works at Corporate Security Advisors, informed Bloomberg.
Komendat mentioned his firm now carries out security evaluations for a growing quantity of firms “that you wouldn’t normally associate with wanting or needing to do this.”
As social media customers blasted Cracker Barrel’s rebrand, Masino confronted personal assaults on her look and her management efficiency – together with from an activist investor who referred to as for her to be fired.
On Monday, analysts mentioned her exit got here as a “surprise” since Cracker Barrel has began to bounce back from its 2025 declines.
“Having a company pay for post-terminated CEO security is rare,” R.J. Bannister, companion and chief working officer at Farient Advisors, informed Bloomberg.
Cracker Barrel quicky reversed course on the failed rebrand final yr. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post
“My sense is that it was probably a negotiating point, something that she was asking for as part of agreeing to step down.”
Starbucks equally agreed to pay for security providers for longtime CEO Howard Schultz for an further 10 years when he stepped down from the function in 2023.
As firms grow fearful of threats, some of the biggest corporations – particularly these within the tech sector – have ramped up their security spending, even hiring armed guards to journey with high executives.
Meta disclosed $8.5 million in security prices for CEO Mark Zuckerberg final yr whereas Oracle spent $5.6 million largely to fund boss Larry Ellison’s residential security.
Security bills at Palantir Technologies jumped 150% to practically $3 million in 2025 over a single yr, whereas Salesforce’s grew to roughly $4 million — about $1 million more than the yr earlier than.
