Meet Person Who Once Got A Meagre Salary In McDonald's, Earned Rs 43 Crore As CEO Of A Food Chain Last Year

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New Delhi: From earning just over $3 per hour on the McDonald's shop floor to becoming the CEO of the UK-based coffee and food-to-go chain Pret A Manger and earning $5 million (Rs 43 crore) in 2024, Pano Christou's success story serves as motivation for anyone who wants to make it big by accepting the opportunities that present themselves.

Pano Christou began working on the McDonald’s shop floor at 16. But now, at 45, he is the CEO of one of Britain’s biggest sandwich chains, Pret A Manger. Christou earned Rs 43 crore in 2024.

Career at McDonald’s
Speaking to Fortune, Christou said it all started when he got an opportunity to clear a test and become a supervisor at McDonald's. There, he “fell in love with hospitality," he told Fortune. 

"I'm in a very different situation now – but I don't forget that £2.75 ($3.40) an hour was the starting point of my career," Christou told Fortune. 

"My parents didn’t have lots of lots of money. But what they did have was a phenomenal work ethic,” he said. His half-Greek, half-Italian father was a cab driver and his Greek-Cypriot mother was a nurse. He further said, “I knew the more I worked, the more money I could make.”

Career at Pret A Manger
After a while, Christou joined Pret A Manger. Due to his diligence and business acumen, he eventually rose to the position of CEO. In 2024, Christou earned $5 million (Rs 43 crore). “I just thought: this looks like a fun environment to work in—so I joined them at 22,” he says. 

Christou believes that accepting any opportunity that presented itself, even if he didn't feel prepared for it at the time, was the key to his big break. “Whenever new, bigger opportunities have been given to me I've always taken them—I’ve never said no—even if it really puts me out there,” he says. 

“I feel thankful for the opportunities I had along the way,” Christou tells Fortune. “I think there's luck along the way but overall, if you work hard and you are very intentional, you can achieve things,” Christou believes.  “I am a big believer in you make your own luck," he says.