Todd Graves financed the first Raising Cane's with money earned as a boilermaker and commercial fisherman, then grew the chicken-finger concept into a large founder-led restaurant chain. [1][2]
Funding the first restaurant himself
Raising Cane's says Graves developed the chicken-finger restaurant idea in college but could not get conventional bank financing. He worked long hours at an oil refinery and later on an Alaskan fishing boat to save money for the business. [2]
Graves combined those savings with an SBA loan and opened the first Raising Cane's near Louisiana State University in 1996. The company still describes him as founder and an active leader of the brand. [2][1]
A founder-owned restaurant fortune
Forbes reports that Raising Cane's has expanded to hundreds of locations and billions of dollars in annual sales, making the private chain the main source of Graves's fortune. The company does not publish a precise personal ownership percentage in the sources used here. [1][2]
Sources for background
Sources reviewed Sep 8, 2026.
- Todd Graves · Forbes · Mar 10, 2026
- Who We Are · Raising Cane's
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