He Sold His Dream Car to Start a Pizza Shop — It Became a $3 Billion Empire. The Sacrifice That Created Papa John's

Before his face appeared in countless commercials as the smiling “Papa John,” John Schnatter was just a young man with a dream — and a classic car he was willing to sacrifice to make it happen. What started with one small pizza oven in the back of a broom closet would eventually grow into a $3 billion global pizza empire known as Papa John’s.

In 1984, Schnatter sold his beloved 1971½ Chevrolet Camaro Z28 for about $2,800 to fund his first pizza business. He set up shop inside a closet-sized space at the back of his father’s tavern in Jeffersonville, Indiana. From there, he started making and selling pizzas to bar customers, using his passion for quality ingredients and customer service as the foundation for what was to come.

The business quickly took off. Within a year, he moved into his own location, and by the early 1990s, Papa John’s was expanding across the United States. The brand’s slogan, “Better Ingredients. Better Pizza.”, became more than just marketing — it was a reflection of Schnatter’s obsession with quality and consistency.

By the 2000s, Papa John’s had grown into one of the biggest pizza chains in the world, with thousands of locations and billions in annual sales. Schnatter’s journey — from selling his dream car to building an empire — became an American entrepreneurial legend.

However, his story hasn’t been without controversy. In recent years, Schnatter stepped down as CEO and later resigned as chairman following public backlash over remarks he made. Despite his departure, the legacy of his business vision remains: a reminder of how determination, risk-taking, and a single bold decision can change everything.

As for the Camaro that started it all? In a poetic twist, Schnatter eventually tracked down and repurchased his original car decades later, a symbol of how far he had come — from a small-town pizza maker to the man behind a multi-billion-dollar empire.

So, who is John Schnatter? He’s the man who proved that sometimes, selling your dream can be the first step toward creating a bigger one.