A Burger King 'Franchisee Of The Year' Winner Turned His Prizes, Worth $120K, Into Bonuses For His Employees

A Burger King franchisee surprised everyone when he used the prizes from his "Franchisee of the Year" award to give out bonuses to 100 employees at the 24 Burger King restaurants owned by his company. Tom Barnett of Barnett Management Company, which owns restaurants mostly in the Arizona area, received a new Corvette and a Rolex as part of his prize from the Burger King Corporation. But instead of taking the Corvette for a test run, he decided to sell his prizes, add some of his own funds, and give out the bonuses to surprised employees.

"Tom is an excellent franchisee, businessman, and role model.  He won his franchisee of the year award for these reasons," said Burger King in response to the news.  "We are proud of the contributions he makes to our brand and our system every day and look forward to his partnership for many years to come."

Bonuses ranged from $100 to $5,000, according to Fox News in Phoenix, and one employee, Fernando Enriquez, was even able to help his mother pay for surgery.