Company profile
- Industry
- Fast food restaurant chain
- Founded
- 1965
- Ownership
- Acquired by Roark Capital in 2024
Profiles are auto-generated and infrequently updated.
Decisions on record
2 verified Decision Records on Subway, and the casebook each one belongs to.
| Fork date | Decision type | The story | Casebook |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Asset-Light Bet | Read the story → | Asset-Light Bet Casebook → |
| 2024 | Founder Doctrine | Read the story → | Founder Doctrine Casebook → |
Run one of these yourself
The decisions Subway faced, as kits you can run.
Each pack takes one of these decisions and gives you the framework, a deck for the room, a model that resolves to one number, and the sourced cases behind it. $499, one-time.
Boundaries of the FirmThe Asset-Light BetWhich parts of the business should you stop owning?See the pack →People & ControlThe Founder ControlWhat does holding control cost you, and what must it be worth?See the pack →Decision ForksThe ResidualHow much of your decline can the agreed explanation actually account for?See the pack →
The analyses
The Asset-Light Model · Boundaries of the Firm
Subway Built the Asset-Light Machine. The Franchisees Were the Asset.
Subway charges the highest combined fee rate in fast food and grants zero territory protection. The result: 10 straight years of net closures and 8,345 lost U.S. stores since 2016 — even as corporate net income hit $688 million.
8 min
The Asset-Light Trap · Boundaries of the Firm
Subway Built 27,000 Stores by Selling Franchises. The Stores Were the Product.
Subway peaked at 27,000 U.S. stores in 2015 and has shed 8,345 since 2016 — a 10th straight year of decline. The corporate profit is soaring anyway, because the new owner found a way to make money even as franchisees fail.
8 min
The Founder Doctrine · People & Control
Subway Stayed Private for 60 Years. Then Estate Math Did What Strategy Never Would.
Subway's two founders held it 50/50 and swore off Wall Street for six decades. In 2024 it sold to private equity for $9.6 billion - not because the doctrine failed, but because a split estate has nowhere to go but the exit.
7 min
The Fall · Crisis & Reinvention
Subway Shed 8,345 U.S. Stores — The Killer Was the Profit Each Store Actually Made
Everyone blames Jared Fogle and the $5 Footlong. But Subway's same-store sales were already falling in 2012, and it has shed 8,345 U.S. stores since 2016. The real killer was a number nobody put on the dashboard: how much money each store actually made.
8 min