Cracker Barrel to pay outgoing CEOs security costs, $4.6M in exit fees after failed rebrand attempt: reports
Cracker Barrel plans to cover outgoing CEO Julie Felss Masino’s security costs and pay her millions in exit fees following the chain’s disastrous rebrand attempt last year, according to reports.The Southern dining chain will continue paying an unspecified amount for Masino’s protection for as long as the board deems it “reasonably necessary” after she leaves the company in October, according to a regulatory filing reported by Bloomberg.Masino – who is set to step down as CEO on Aug.10 and stay on in an advisory capacity through the fall – will also receive $4.6 million in exit payments over two years, according to filings obtained by the Wall Street Journal.Meanwhile, Cracker Barrel has wooed incoming CEO David Deno with promises of a $1 million annual salary; $465,000 in relocation expenses to Nashville, Tenn.; a corporate apartment; and twice monthly trips back to his home in St.
Petersburg, Fla., for up to six months, the Journal reported.Cracker Barrel did not respond to The Post’s inquiries about how much it has spent on Masino’s security thus far.The Lebanon, Tenn.-based company is desperate to move past its “woke” rebrand controversy, which saw Masino attempt to appeal to younger customers last August by modernizing restaurant locations and axing folksy farmer Uncle Herschel from the company logo.Cracker Barrel’s stock and its store sales declined as outraged customers and even President Trump revolted against the changes, which were quickly reversed.While it’s unusual to offer paid security services to CEOs with no time limit after their exit, it’s just the latest example of mounting safety concerns following a series of violent attacks, starting with the fatal shooting of a UnitedHealthcare executive in Midtown Manhattan in 2024.In July 2025, four people were killed in a shooting in a Midtown Manhattan office building.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s San Francisco home was targeted in an attempted firebombing incident earlier this year...