John Schnatter used to own more than a third of Papa John's, a company he founded in 1984. Now, after months of unloading chunks of his stake, he owns less than 4%.
Schnatter began selling his more than 9.9 million shares in May 2019, and less than a year later he is close to severing all financial ties with Papa John's.
During three separate transactions between March 20 and March 24, Schantter sold nearly 350,000 shares, reducing his stake to just 1.27 million shares. He pocketed more than $18.7 million from the sale of those shares.
Now, with just 3.96% ownership stake, Schnatter will no longer have to report his transactions to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Through his official Instagram account, Schnatter shared his thoughts on the economic impact of coronavirus in a post on March 25:
"None of us are smart enough to know when the stock market has reached its bottom, so trying to time it perfectly is a fool's errand. Patience is key. Though this downturn happened quickly, history show that it may take time to climb back. Remember, it is simple math that it takes a 50% gain to fully recover from a 33% loss.
"Cash was king, cash is now king and in the next six months cash will be super king. Do not try to 'catch a falling knife' with big market moves. I'm not offering investment advice, but wanted to share with you my perspective on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead."
It's unclear if the post has any connection with his recent transactions. Though when it comes to cash, Schnatter should have a lot of it. With just the selling of his Papa John's stock, he has made nearly $400 million in a single year.
Schnatter is encouraging others to "#GiveBackWithPapa" during the coronavirus crisis. He has partnered with Kentucky Castle, Wild Health and University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari to feed 200 meals to first responders every day.