Here we go again with Nelson Peltz and Wendy’s

Wendy’s value has fallen by $1 billion since Nelson Peltz bought the chain in 2008. | Photo: Shutterstock.

Nelson Peltz is again thinking about his investment in Wendy’s. Based on our reading of the filing, he may buy the chain, perhaps with some partner, and has taken the step of talking with financiers and potential partners. But he could also sell or do something else. 

It’s certainly understandable that he’d consider such a move. Wendy’s stock has lost half of its value over the past year. Its weak 2025 means it will likely lose its status this year or next as the nation’s second-largest burger chain to Burger King, which not all that long ago was dealing with a rash of large-scale bankruptcies. 

Peltz owns 16% of Wendy’s, and if the investment isn’t working out, then perhaps it’s time to do something with it. 

More to the point, since Peltz bought Wendy’s, the company’s value has plunged. Peltz, through Arby’s, acquired the chain in 2008 for $2.3 billion. As of close on Wednesday, its market cap was $1.3 billion, even after the filing led to a 17% spike in Wendy’s stock price. 

While much of that decline has taken place over the last year, that still represents a substantial amount of value destruction. Wendy’s is too good a chain, with too many advantages, to lose that kind of value. 

Some of that responsibility lies with Peltz himself. He first got involved in Wendy’s in late 2005 as an activist investor, pushing the company to make changes. Wendy’s responded first by making board changes, then by selling off Tim Hortons. (Imagine if Wendy’s simply kept the cash-rich Canadian doughnut chain.)

Peltz bought the company in 2008 through Triarc Companies, which owned Arby’s at the time. As that chain’s struggles worsened, it unloaded Arby’s at a low price to Roark Capital, which turned the brand around and used it to create Inspire Brands. Wendy’s has been a standalone brand ever since. 

Peltz was thinking of doing something with his investment back in 2022, including an acquisition at the time. The company instead pushed through a reorganization the next year, including the elimination of the role of president of the company’s U.S. business. But by 2024, Wendy’s opted to replace CEO Todd Penegor with Kirk Tanner, who quickly brought back that role. 

As we’ve said before, Wendy’s did not deserve the upheaval it has been through over these past few years. Reorganizations are a part of life, as are CEO changes. But Wendy’s corporate staff and franchisees have been through multiple reorganizations and CEO changes and now uncertainty and a lack of a permanent leader at the top.

All those changes are tough on a system. It’s hardly a surprise to see the chain struggle like this, given all of that.

And now here comes Peltz to add more uncertainty to the picture, which almost certainly doesn’t help matters.

Our best advice to Nelson Peltz is to either buy the chain quickly—preferably with a partner who knows what they’re doing when it comes to restaurants—or find a way to unload his stake. Because Wendy’s is too good of a brand for all this.