Frederick Adrian “Fred” DeLuca was born on 3 October 1947, in Brooklyn, New York City USA, of Italian-American descent. His success story is one of the greatest in the American history, as Fred DeLuca became famous thanks to “Subway”, the worldwide known fast food restaurant that he founded at the end of the ‘60s. The American businessman died in September 2015.
So just how rich was Fred DeLuca? Sources estimated DeLuca’s net worth at $1.5 billion, which made him number 259 on Forbes’ list of the 400 richest Americans. The entrepreneur’s income came from the fast food franchises he owned, now present in 98 countries and registering more than $9 billion in sales annually.
Fred Deluca Net Worth $1.5 Billion
Fred DeLuca matriculated from Central High School in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1965, and started his business at the age of 17, while trying to raise money to go to college. In fact, after his business started being successful, Fred Deluca graduated from the University of Bridgeport in 1971, having a degree in psychology.
Fred DeLuca took his first $1000 to start with from his friend Peter Buck, who therefore became the co-founder of the company. First known as “Pete’s Super Submarines”, the business changed its name into “Pete’s Subway” and, in 1968, into “Subway”. The two business partners managed to open a second unit in 1966 and, soon after, they went for a third store in a better location. In 1974, when the business had already opened 16 stores, the two partners decided to transform “Subway” into a franchise, an idea that took the business nationwide. By 1978, Subway had 100 stores opened in the US, and by 1987 the business had reached the 1,000-store mark.
In 1984, “Subway” granted its first international franchise. The idea of healthy fast food became more and more popular worldwide, and the company’s growth continued. In 1993 alone, Subway managed to open 1,100 restaurant, which was more units in one year than their competitor McDonald’s, with 800 new restaurants only. According to The Wall Street Journal, the complete overtake of McDonald’s happened in 2002, when Subway managed to have a higher number of units globally. Today, Subway franchises include over 44,000 outlets worldwide.
According to Fred DeLuca, an important part of the company’s success is the result of their collaboration with Jared Fogle, also known as “Jared the Subway Guy”. His story about losing 245 pounds in a year based on a Subway diet increased the company’s popularity among healthy food enthusiasts. The success went on when, as in 2012 the company received a Heart Check Certification from the American Heart Association, for some of its low-calorie, low– sodium meals. (Incidentally, Subway cut all ties to Fogle, when authorities announced that he was part of a Federal Investigation on child pornography.)
Besides the holding company Doctor’s Associates Inc., which owns Subway, DeLuca and his partner Peter Buck also created Franchise Brands, as part of their efforts to help inexperienced entrepreneurs to reach success in the franchise industry. Among the names that have been connected to Franchise Brands, there is “Taco Del Mar” and, “Mama DeLuca’s Pizza!”. After the businessman’s death, his sister Suzanne Greco took over the management of the company.
In his personal life, Fred DeLuca married his high school girlfriend Elisabeth in 1966; the couple had a daughter and a son. He lived most of the time in his house in Connecticut. His family also owned a home in Florida. Fred passed away on 14 September 2015 in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, suffering from leukemia.
