Tony Townley

About Tony Townley

Tony Townley founded the chicken chain Zaxby's with Zach McLeroy, his best friend since the seventh grade.

Townley and McLeroy each put up $8,000 to open the first Zaxby's restaurant in Statesboro, Georgia in 1990.

In 2020, Townley sold his stake in the business to Goldman Sachs for nearly $1 billion (pre-tax).

McLeroy sold part of his stake and remained CEO after the sale before stepping down from the chief executive role in 2022.

Townley and his wife Elizabeth have poured a chunk of their earnings into buying at least 35,000 acres of timberland and farmland around Georgia.