Who Owns Blaze Pizza: Major Shareholders

• Blaze Pizza is privately owned and controlled by founders Rick and Elise Wetzel, who together hold the largest stake at an estimated 50% and retain final authority over strategy, branding, and long-term decisions.
• Brentwood Associates is the only confirmed institutional investor, holding an estimated 30% minority stake with board representation but no controlling interest in the company.
• Celebrity and early individual investors, including LeBron James (10%), Maria Shriver (3%), and Tom Werner (2%), own minority stakes and act as brand partners rather than company operators.
• Blaze Pizza is not owned by any corporation or restaurant conglomerate and remains independent, operating through founder leadership, private equity backing, and a franchise-driven growth model.

Blaze Pizza is a fast-casual restaurant brand focused on freshly made, customized pizzas cooked in high-temperature ovens. The company operates on a franchise-driven model, with most locations owned by independent operators rather than corporate management. This approach allows the brand to expand quickly across markets while maintaining standardized branding, menu consistency, and operational systems.

Blaze Pizza positions itself between traditional pizzerias and fast food chains. Its concept is built around speed, simplicity, and customer control. Guests choose their crust, sauce, cheese, and toppings. Each pizza is cooked in under five minutes in an open-flame oven. The menu also includes salads, desserts, and drinks, but pizza remains the central product.

The brand operates hundreds of locations across the United States and internationally. Over the years, Blaze Pizza has focused heavily on technology integration, including mobile ordering, delivery partnerships, and a digital rewards program. These systems support customer retention and improve ordering speed in high-traffic locations.

In recent years, the company shifted its corporate operations from California to Atlanta, Georgia. The move was made to centralize leadership, strengthen franchise support, and position the company for long-term growth. Today, Blaze Pizza is structured with a corporate leadership team overseeing operations, marketing, real estate development, and franchise services.

Blaze Pizza Founders

Blaze Pizza was founded in 2011 by Rick Wetzel and Elise Wetzel in Pasadena, California. Rick Wetzel is also the co-founder of Wetzel’s Pretzels, one of the fastest-growing mall food brands in the United States. His experience in franchising and large-scale food operations directly influenced how Blaze Pizza was structured from day one.

Elise Wetzel played a central role in brand strategy, operations planning, and corporate development. She helped design Blaze Pizza as a scalable franchise concept rather than a traditional restaurant business. Her background in business management and marketing shaped the brand’s customer experience, store layout, and positioning in the fast-casual market.

The idea for Blaze Pizza came after the founders observed how brands like Chipotle had modernized quick-service dining. They believed pizza had not evolved in the same way. Their solution was a fast-fired pizza model built on customization, speed, and simplicity.

The first Blaze Pizza locations opened in 2012 in Irvine and Pasadena, California. From the start, the founders focused on franchising as the primary growth strategy. They also brought in celebrity investors early, including professional athletes and entertainment figures, to accelerate brand visibility.

Major Milestones

• 2011: Rick and Elise Wetzel formally develop the Blaze Pizza concept, focusing on a fast-casual pizza model built around customization, speed, and simplified operations.
• 2012: Blaze Pizza opens its first two locations in California, including the flagship restaurant in Pasadena and an early location in Irvine. These stores validate the fast-fired oven model.
• 2013: The company launches its franchise program, allowing outside operators to open Blaze Pizza locations and accelerating expansion beyond California.
• 2014: Blaze Pizza becomes the fastest fast-casual pizza chain to open 50 locations. The brand attracts celebrity investors and national media attention.
• 2015: The company crosses 100 locations and expands into new U.S. states. Blaze Pizza becomes a known national player in the fast-casual space.
• 2016: International expansion begins. Blaze Pizza enters markets outside the United States, including Canada and the Middle East.
• 2017: Blaze Pizza opens its 200th restaurant. Industry observers recognize it as one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in U.S. history.
• 2018: The brand passes 300 locations worldwide. Mobile ordering and delivery integration are expanded across the system.
• 2019: Blaze Pizza strengthens global operations, improves franchise standards, and invests in technology for customer experience and order processing.
• 2020: The company adapts operations due to global health disruptions. Digital ordering, contactless pickup, and delivery become major priorities.
• 2021: Blaze Pizza begins restructuring its franchise support systems and refocuses on store profitability and operational efficiency.
• 2022: Growth strategy shifts from aggressive expansion to market optimization, closing underperforming stores while improving strong locations.
• 2023: The company upgrades franchise training programs and marketing systems to improve brand consistency.
• 2024: Blaze Pizza announces the relocation of its corporate headquarters from Pasadena, California to Atlanta, Georgia to support future growth plans.
• 2025: Blaze Pizza continues operating hundreds of locations globally, actively franchising, and refining operational strategy.

Who Owns Blaze Pizza: Top Shareholders

Blaze Pizza is a privately held company. It is not listed on the stock market. There is no single owner with complete control. Ownership is split among founders, early investors, celebrity partners, and private equity firms.

The largest ownership stake remains with founder Rick Wetzel and his investment group. He is widely considered the controlling shareholder. While many famous names are attached to Blaze Pizza, most of them own minority stakes rather than having operational power.

Because Blaze Pizza is private, exact share percentages are not disclosed publicly. However, several investors are known to hold meaningful positions based on investment records and public statements.

Below is a list of the largest shareholders of Blaze Pizza as of December 2025:

Rick and Elise Wetzel — Founders & Majority Owners (50%)

Rick and Elise Wetzel continue to hold the largest combined ownership stake in Blaze Pizza. They created the company in 2011 and laid out the business model, brand identity, and growth strategy. Their equity — whether majority or near-majority — ensures that they retain strategic control. That means major decisions about expansion, brand positioning, and long-term direction remain guided by the duo. Their stake gives them effective control over board decisions, corporate philosophy, and company trajectory.

Brentwood Associates (30%)

In 2017, Blaze Pizza sold a “significant, non-controlling” minority stake to Brentwood Associates.

This infusion of capital helped Blaze accelerate expansion, professionalize operations, and prepare for potential future growth. Brentwood Associates’ share is substantial enough to matter but not enough to override founder control. They also gained representation at board level — bringing financial oversight, growth expertise, and strategic guidance.

Through this investment, institutional capital supports Blaze’s expansion, but from public records the stake remains minority — likely around a quarter or less of total equity.

LeBron James (10%)

LeBron James invested in Blaze Pizza in 2012, early in the brand’s life.

As of 2017 reporting, his equity stake was estimated around 10%. Over time, his stake’s value reportedly climbed; at one point his equity — plus endorsement and brand-value investments — was valued at between US$35–40 million.

LeBron’s role goes beyond passive investment. He became a public face of Blaze Pizza, used his social media reach to promote the brand, and helped open franchise locations under his name.

Despite this prominence, his stake (10%) means he does not exercise controlling influence over corporate governance; strategic decisions remain with majority owners and board members.

Other Early Private Individual Investors

Beyond the founders and Brentwood Associates, Blaze Pizza brought in several well-known individual investors during its early growth phase. These investors joined mostly between 2012 and 2014, when the company was expanding quickly. None of them controls the business or holds board authority. Their role has always been minority ownership and brand support.

• Maria Shriver (3% stake): An early investor in Blaze Pizza. She holds a small minority stake and does not take part in operations or corporate leadership. Her involvement helped raise the brand’s public profile and added credibility among media and business circles. She has no voting control or decision-making authority within the company.
• Tom Werner (2% stake): Chairman of the Boston Red Sox and an early Blaze Pizza investor. His ownership is passive and does not involve operational oversight. He does not influence leadership appointments, franchising strategy, or financial decisions. His stake represents minority equity only.
• Other angel investors (combined estimated 5% stake): A group of early private backers, including business executives and entrepreneurs who invested during Blaze Pizza’s early funding rounds. Individually, their stakes are very small. Collectively, they hold a minor portion of the company. None sits on the board or participates in management.

Who is the CEO of Blaze Pizza?

As of December 2025, the CEO and president of Blaze Pizza is Beto Guajardo. He leads the brand’s overall strategy, daily operations, and franchise growth worldwide. He has been in this role since January 2023 and remains the top executive responsible for how Blaze Pizza competes and expands in the fast-casual pizza market.

Beto Guajardo was appointed president and chief executive officer of Blaze Pizza in January 2023. Before joining Blaze, he served as president of Focus Brands International, overseeing multiple global restaurant brands across dozens of countries.

His appointment marked a shift from founder-driven leadership to a more corporate, systems-driven growth model. Since stepping into the role, he has focused on franchise expansion, improving unit economics, and modernizing digital and loyalty capabilities.

Background and Career

Guajardo is a veteran restaurant and retail executive. Before Blaze Pizza, he led the international business at Focus Brands, where he was responsible for brands such as Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s, Jamba, and others.

Earlier in his career, he held senior roles at companies including Starbucks, Levi Strauss, and Schlotzsky’s.

He has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. This combination of strategy, brand building, and global franchising experience is one of the main reasons Blaze’s investors and founders selected him to run the company.

Role and Decision-Making Power

As CEO, Beto Guajardo sits at the center of Blaze Pizza’s decision-making structure. He reports to the board of directors, which includes representatives of the founding group and its main private-equity investor.

He is responsible for turning long-term strategic goals into operational plans. That includes menu direction, store format evolution, technology investments, international expansion, and franchise support.

Under his leadership, Blaze has pushed harder into loyalty technology, frictionless payments, and more efficient store models. He also acts as the public face of the brand in interviews, industry conferences, and franchise development efforts.

While founders and investors set high-level expectations, the CEO drives how those expectations become real in restaurants.

Previous CEOs of Blaze Pizza

Before Beto Guajardo, Blaze Pizza had two main modern-era CEOs:

• Jim Mizes served as president and CEO after joining the brand in its early years. He helped grow Blaze from a handful of locations to hundreds of restaurants before retiring in 2019.
• Mandy (Mandy) Shaw became CEO in November 2019 after serving as chief financial officer and interim CEO. She led the company through the pandemic period and focused heavily on digital, delivery, and new product innovation. She remained CEO until late 2022.

Beto Guajardo took over in January 2023. Under his leadership, Blaze Pizza has concentrated on tightening operations, upgrading loyalty and payments technology, and positioning the brand for another phase of domestic and international growth.

Blaze Pizza Annual Revenue and Net Worth

As of December 2025, the latest publicly cited annual revenue estimate for Blaze Pizza is around $583.3 million. Its net worth is estimated to be around $540 million.

Annual Revenue

Blaze Pizza’s estimated revenue in 2025 — about $583.3 million — reflects its combined sales across corporate-owned and franchised stores globally.

This figure suggests the pizza chain has successfully maintained strong revenue streams, even as it adapts to market changes and focuses on operational efficiency. The revenue per employee metric is also highlighted: Blaze’s estimated revenue per employee is approximately $250.

Such revenue levels place Blaze among the more significant fast-casual pizza chains, showing that its rapid expansion and franchise model continue to deliver meaningful aggregate sales.

To understand what $583.3 million in revenue means for Blaze Pizza, some context helps:

• The revenue encompasses hundreds of locations — company-owned and franchised — serving a large customer base across multiple states and countries.
• The per-employee revenue suggests operational scale and productivity, which tends to strengthen the company’s financial foundations.
• Given a diversified franchise model, Blaze doesn’t rely solely on corporate-owned outlets; franchise fees, royalties, and systemwide growth also contribute to long-term stability and profitability.

Blaze Pizza Net Worth

Blaze Pizza’s estimated net worth stands at $540 million as of December 2025. This figure represents the company’s overall valuation, reflecting brand value, market presence, franchise network strength, and long-term earning potential.

Net worth is not calculated from cash alone. It reflects the value of the brand, franchise contracts, supply partnerships, operational systems, digital platforms, and growth capability. In Blaze Pizza’s case, its valuation is supported by a nationwide footprint, international expansion, and a stable royalty-based business model.

The company’s net worth also reflects strong investor confidence. Institutional and founder ownership structure has kept control centralized while allowing the business to grow without dilution of brand quality. The result is a privately held company with both financial stability and significant long-term brand leverage.

Financial Stability and Business Strength

Blaze Pizza’s financial performance shows that it has moved beyond early growth pressure. The company now focuses on operational consistency, franchise development, and market optimization rather than rapid store openings alone.

Its revenue profile suggests sustainable operations rather than volatile growth. The brand’s strategy prioritizes stronger unit performance rather than simple expansion. This positions Blaze Pizza for continued profitability without sacrificing brand control.

The near match between revenue and valuation highlights strong brand equity. The company is not being valued on speculation alone. Its net worth reflects real performance, system strength, and an established customer base.

Financial Outlook

Blaze Pizza enters the coming years as a financially solid restaurant brand. With stable revenue and a net worth of $583 million, it has the leverage to invest further in technology, marketing, and international expansion.

Its franchise model gives it flexibility. Corporate leadership can scale selectively without carrying the heavy costs of owning all locations. This structure supports long-term profitability while protecting the company from operational risk in any single market.

As of December 2025, Blaze Pizza is no longer an emerging brand. It is a financially mature franchise business with strong valuation, recurring income, and a durable position in the fast-casual dining industry.

Brands Owned by Blaze Pizza

Below are the brands and business entities that Blaze Pizza owns and operates internally. These are company-level brands and platforms created and managed by Blaze Pizza itself:

Blaze Pizza

Blaze Pizza is the main brand and the company’s only restaurant concept. All corporate resources, marketing investment, research and development, and franchise operations are centered on this one brand.

The company controls brand standards, menus, intellectual property, store design, employee training programs, and franchise systems under the Blaze Pizza name. Franchise operators are licensed to use the brand but do not own it. The corporate headquarters manages brand integrity across all markets.

Blaze Pizza locations operate in the United States and select international markets. The business model relies on franchising rather than corporate ownership of most stores. This allows rapid expansion with lower capital risk while maintaining centralized control over branding and operations.

Blaze Pizza Franchising, LLC

Blaze Pizza Franchising is the internal franchise arm of the company. This entity manages all franchise agreements, approvals, compliance systems, and territory development.

It controls training systems, franchise onboarding, operational audits, and compliance enforcement. It also handles royalty collection, franchise fees, and performance metrics.

The franchising entity ensures brand consistency across hundreds of locations. Without it, Blaze Pizza could not operate as a global franchise system.

Blaze International

Blaze International manages growth and partnerships outside the United States.

This business unit oversees international master franchise agreements. It handles regional development strategy, localization approvals, and operational compliance outside the domestic market.

It coordinates with supply chain partners across borders. It also adapts menus when required by regional regulation while maintaining core brand standards.

Blaze International exists solely to expand Blaze Pizza globally under one unified structure.

Blaze Pizza Corporate Operations

This entity runs corporate-owned locations and internal operating functions. Although most stores are franchised, Blaze maintains a smaller number of corporate locations for testing and performance benchmarking.

Corporate operations serve as test kitchens for new menu items. They allow internal staff to evaluate pricing models, workflow, and equipment before rolling changes systemwide.

It also manages internal operations leadership, facilities, and employee management for corporate stores.

Blaze Digital and Technology Division

Blaze Pizza owns and operates its digital infrastructure internally through a dedicated technology group.

This unit manages the mobile app, online ordering systems, point-of-sale integrations, loyalty program, customer data systems, and delivery platform connectivity.

The brand’s rewards program, customer accounts, and order tracking are part of this internal system. Blaze controls the data rather than outsourcing this function entirely.

This division has grown rapidly as digital ordering now represents a major share of total transactions.

Blaze Loyalty Program

The Blaze Rewards program operates as an internal brand entity.

It manages customer retention, targeted promotions, and digital engagement. Members earn points, receive personalized offers, and interact directly through Blaze’s official app.

This program is entirely owned and operated by Blaze Pizza. It is not licensed from a third party. The customer relationship belongs to Blaze, not to any external marketing company.

Blaze Supply Chain Network

Blaze owns and manages centralized sourcing relationships through internal procurement management.

This entity does not manufacture food, but it controls:

• Approved vendors
• Ingredient sourcing
• Equipment suppliers
• Packaging standards
• Distribution systems.

It ensures consistency across franchise locations. Every ingredient that enters a Blaze Pizza location is governed by internal corporate policy.

This system preserves quality and controls food costs across the network.

Blaze Training and Development Systems

Blaze operates a central training entity responsible for operational and leadership development.

This includes:

• Training manuals
• Onboarding programs
• Operations certification
• Store audit frameworks
• Manager development systems.

It exists as a formal internal function rather than an informal process. Franchise partners and corporate employees both pass through standardized training.

This ensures a uniform experience no matter which country a customer visits.

Blaze Marketing and Brand Studio

This internal entity controls all advertising, brand creative, and messaging.

It develops national and regional campaigns, photography, promotions, and digital content.

Social media strategy, promotions, loyalty messaging, and brand storytelling are owned by Blaze Pizza, not outsourced to brand agencies.

Blaze controls its voice globally under this centralized unit.

Conclusion

So, who owns Blaze Pizza? The answer is not one person.

The company is controlled by its founders, led by Rick Wetzel, and supported by private investors, including high-profile figures like LeBron James. It remains privately owned and professionally managed. This mix of ownership has allowed the brand to grow fast while keeping tight control over operations and quality.

FAQs

Does LeBron own Blaze Pizza?

No. LeBron James does not own Blaze Pizza. He is a minority investor, not the owner. He does not control the company, run operations, or make corporate decisions.

Who owns Blaze Pizza franchise?

Individual franchise locations are owned by independent franchise operators. However, the Blaze Pizza brand, systems, and intellectual property are owned by the parent company controlled by founders Rick and Elise Wetzel. Franchise owners operate stores under license but do not own the company itself.

Who is the founder of Blaze Pizza?

Blaze Pizza was founded by Rick Wetzel and Elise Wetzel. Rick Wetzel is also known for co-founding Wetzel’s Pretzels. Together, they created Blaze Pizza as a fast-casual alternative to traditional pizza chains.

How many Blaze Pizza locations are there?

Blaze Pizza operates hundreds of locations worldwide through a franchise-led model. The exact number changes as stores open and close, but the brand maintains a large footprint across the United States and selected international markets.

How much does LeBron make from Blaze Pizza?

LeBron James does not receive a salary from Blaze Pizza. His earnings come from his ownership stake and the long-term value of his equity. Any income depends on dividends, growth in company valuation, or if he sells shares. His involvement is investment-based, not employment-based.

Who are the investors in Blaze Pizza?

Major investors include:

• Rick and Elise Wetzel (founders and majority owners)
• Brentwood Associates (private equity investor)
• LeBron James (celebrity investor)
• Maria Shriver (early individual investor)
• Tom Werner (early private investor)
• Other small private angel investors.

There is no parent company and no public shareholder base.

Does LeBron James still own Blaze Pizza?

Yes. LeBron James remains an investor in Blaze Pizza. However, his stake is purely financial. He does not manage the business and does not have decision authority.