Subway Co-Founder Peter Buck’s foundation announced Monday that the late Buck left his 50 percent ownership stake in the sandwich chain to the foundation. The Wall Street Journal estimates the brand could be worth more than $10 billion.
Subway has retained advisers in relation to a potential sale of the company, WSJ reports. If completed, the foundation could receive billions of dollars.
Buck died in November 2021 at age 90. He founded Subway with Fred DeLuca in 1965.
Buck formed the Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation with his wife, Carmen, in 1999 to manage the couple’s philanthropic efforts. The foundation’s mission is to give “motivated people the tools they need to help themselves,” according to the foundation’s website.
This bequest has been in the works for more than a decade, according to the foundation.
“This gift will allow the foundation to greatly expand its philanthropic endeavors and impact many more lives, especially our work to create educational opportunities for all students, work Dr. Buck cared so deeply about,” Carrie Schindele, the foundation’s executive director, said in a statement. The foundation did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The foundation reported its fair market value of all assets at $592.5 million in its Form 990-PF to the Internal Revenue Service in 2021. It reported just over $27 million in donations.
Notably, its largest donations went toward education. The foundation in 2022 donated $1.5 million to Capital Prepatory Schools, $1 million to Columbia University, $2.4 million to Elevate Charter Schools, $1 million to Excellence Community Schools, $1.2 million to Doctors Without Borders, $1.25 million to Northeast Charter Schools Network and $1.6 million to Third Sector New England.
A Subway spokesperson wrote to Franchise Times, “As a privately held company, we don’t comment on ownership structure and business plans. We continue to be focused on moving the brand forward with our transformational journey to help our franchisees be successful and profitable.”
Subway’s systemwide sales were an estimated $17.5 billion in 2021 from its 37,147 units across the globe, according to Franchise Times Top 500 data.