Who Owns Jack in the Box?

Robert O. Peterson opened the first Jack in the Box in San Diego in 1951, a drive-through hamburger stand with a two-way intercom and a clown-head speaker box that became the brand mascot. Peterson's Foodmaker Company built the chain into a West Coast drive-through fixture and took it public in the 1960s.

Ralston Purina acquired the company in 1968, expanding nationally, then sold it back to management in a 1985 leveraged buyout. The 1990s brought the darkest chapter: a 1993 E. coli outbreak tied to undercooked burgers at Jack in the Box restaurants sickened hundreds and killed four children, forcing sweeping changes in cooking standards and supply chain controls that influenced the entire industry.

The company rebuilt through the late 1990s and 2000s around an irreverent advertising campaign built on the returning Jack mascot, a broad menu spanning burgers, tacos, and breakfast served all day, and heavy West Coast concentration. It acquired Qdoba in 2003 and sold it to Apollo in 2018.

In March 2022 Jack in the Box bought Del Taco for $585 million, a bet on Mexican quick-service scale that failed to deliver; after seven straight quarters of Del Taco same-store sales declines, the company sold the chain to Yadav Enterprises in December 2025 for $115 million, a $470 million loss on the investment.

Since 2024 the company has run the JACK on Track restructuring: a block closure program for underperforming restaurants, real estate sales to pay down debt, reduced capital spending, and a refranchising push. Fiscal 2025 revenue was $1.47 billion, down 6.75 percent, and the company posted a net loss of about $81 million as it absorbed restructuring costs.