[SYDNEY] Billionaire Jack Cowin built a fast-food empire by bringing fried chicken to 1960s Australia.
Now, at 83, he’s back to attempt a turnaround of the biggest Domino’s Pizza franchisee outside the US.
Cowin is the largest shareholder of Sydney-listed Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, which has more than 3,500 stores from Australia to Europe. The stock has plunged 88 per cent from its peak four years ago as rising costs and heightened competition eroded its market share. The US-listed Domino’s Pizza has slid just about 10 per cent over the same period.
The octogenarian has much to gain from reviving the pizza chain. His near 25 per cent stake in the firm is part of his US$3.2 billion fortune, which the Bloomberg Billionaires Index has calculated for the first time. Cowin is also the chairman and managing director of CFAL Group, operator of the Hungry Jack’s chain, which holds the master franchise for Burger King in Australia.
Cowin became the interim executive chairman of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises last month, when it was announced that chief executive officer Mark van Dyck would leave in December after just one-year in the role. Cowin said that the board had agreed to van Dyck’s five-year plan that included shutting down hundreds of unprofitable stores and cutting costs, but disagreed with the pace of execution.
“Shareholders have lost patience, and those remaining will lose patience if we don’t see it turn around sooner rather than later,” said Romano Sala Tenna, portfolio manager at Katana Asset Management in Perth. “Jack Cowin taking a very hands-on approach from here is a positive thing. The new CEO probably needs to be a little bit hungrier and a bit more driven.”
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Domino’s Pizza Enterprises said on Wednesday (Aug 27) that it swung to a loss of A$3.7 million (S$3 million) in the year ended June 29 from a profit of A$96 million a year earlier. The company more than halved its final dividend payment to shareholders and said that it’s reducing costs and simplifying operations.
“We are taking action to make Domino’s a leaner, more efficient business,” Cowin said. “We have work to do. But we know what matters.”
Cowin is a self-made food and beverage mogul. Born in 1942 in Windsor, Canada, he sold insurance in Toronto before moving to Australia in his late 20s with his wife and eldest son.
In the 1960s, Australia’s food services industry “consisted of Chinese restaurants, fish-and-chip shops and white tablecloth fancy restaurants, that was it”, he said in a 2022 video for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award, citing his impressions after his first visit to the country.
He opened the first Kentucky Fried Chicken in Perth in 1969, after raising funds from 30 Canadian investors that lent him C$10,000 (S$9,300) each, he said in an interview with CNBC last December. He went on to operate KFC outlets until selling them in 2013.
Domino’s Pizza Enterprises rose to a record in 2021 as the pandemic boosted demand for delivery, but has plunged since then due to rising costs, competition from delivery platforms and the emergence of chains such as Sydney-listed burrito chain Guzman y Gomez. Adding to those challenges was the pressure to aggressively grow abroad.
In the first half of the 2025 fiscal year, Domino’s Pizza Enterprises posted a net loss of A$22.2 million compared with a profit of A$58 million the previous year. Revenue in Asia dropped 7.1 per cent, followed by falls of 6.9 per cent in Europe and 5.2 per cent in Australia and New Zealand.
As the woes piled up, former chief executive officer Don Meij announced his retirement in November after about four decades at the firm. Weak sales, particularly in Japan and France, were one of the main areas of concern.
Meij’s successor van Dyck said in February that he’d close over 200 unprofitable stores in a bid to resurrect profit growth, most of them in Japan. Last month, Cowin said that van Dyck chose to resign and was not pushed out.
The billionaire mentioned the board was beginning a search process for a new group CEO. He also mentioned that a major element in cost reduction is the IT department, which has become expensive and no longer provides a competitive advantage.
The choice of CEO, alongside Cowin’s stabilising hand, is viewed as vital for the company’s turnaround.
“Rapid leadership turnover clouds direction, and a revolving door in the boardroom makes it harder for investors to buy into a long-term growth story,” said Josh Gilbert, a market analyst at eToro in Sydney. “Clearly, stability is needed and until that time, it affects the investment case.”
Writing in the Domino’s Pizza Enterprises annual report, which was released on Wednesday, Cowin looked back on more than 50 years in the fast-food industry. Customers still just want fresh, hot and affordable food, he said.
“I often get asked whether consumer eating habits have really changed. My answer? Not much,” he said. “Tastes shift, trends come and go – but the fundamentals stay the same.” BLOOMBERG
