Why Raising Cane's Founder Just Bought 50,000 Lotto Tickets

When it comes to the top-rated fast-food chains to work for, Raising Cane's usually makes the list. The Louisiana-based chain known for its fried chicken, Texas toast, and Cane's sauce is also increasingly known for treating its employees right. Food for Net recently named Raising Cane's one of the best fast-food establishments to work for, noting that general managers earn an average salary of $70,000. Plus, for employees just starting out at Raising Cane's, good work often leads to quick promotions and noteworthy hourly wage increases.

Raising Cane's even scores high marks for employee satisfaction among companies outside of the food industry. In 2021, the chain made Glassdoor's annual list of 100 Best Places to Work (per QSR). Not only did it beat out other popular fast-food chains, it was also the only Louisiana-based company to make the cut. Raising Cane's isn't averse to finding novel ways to keep employees and customers satisfied, either. As Bloomberg reports, last year's pandemic-induced staff shortages led the company to send its corporate workers to staff its restaurants. Office staff worked the register, the deep fryer, and even helped with recruitment efforts.

Now there's a new way Raising Cane's is working to boost company morale, only it's probably not what you would expect. In a quirky addition to the company's traditional bonus structure, Raising Cane's founder Todd Graves bought 50,000 lotto tickets for the company's employees. With a Mega Millions jackpot worth more than $800 million on the line, there's a lot to gain.

In a YouTube video released to Raising Cane's employees this week, it was explained that Graves purchased the 50,000 tickets. And instead of giving one ticket to each employee, the tickets will be shared among everyone. In the event that one of the lottery tickets is a winner, the profits will be shared evenly among each member of the Raising Cane's team, including both corporate employees and restaurant staff. 

Graves recently shared a Twitter post celebrating the hefty purchase, showing the lengthy process of all those tickets printing out and his excitement over the possibility of rewarding the Raising Cane's staff in such a big way.

But how much does each Raising Cane's employee stand to win? If each of the 50,000 tickets represents one employee, that's more than $16,500 in winnings per person, assuming the current $830 million jackpot doesn't increase. That's great news for Raising Cane's employees, and certainly an incentive to continue showing up to work. But only time will tell if any of those tickets is a winner or not. The next drawing is coming up quickly and is set to occur on July 26 at 11 p.m. ET.