Dan Cathy

Cathy was born in Jonesboro, Georgia in 1953 as the first child of Jeanette (McNeil) and S. Truett Cathy. His father had recently started a restaurant known as the Dwarf House. Cathy has a younger brother, Bubba Cathy and sister Trudy. In addition their family fostered numerous children over the years.

Cathy earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Georgia Southern University in 1975. After graduation, he began working full-time for his father's company, which had already been established as a franchise chain.

Cathy said in July 2012 that he opposes same-sex marriage and supports conservative Christian causes. Tax records obtained in 2011 showed that Chick-fil-A's operators, the WinShape Foundation, and the Cathy family spent millions of dollars to defeat marriage equality initiatives and to provide conversion therapy.

Cathy started as director of operations, eventually being promoted in 2013 to president and CEO. Cathy spends much of his time visiting the chain's 2,000 restaurants.

In March 2014, he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it had been a "mistake" for the WinShape Foundation to "support political or social agendas" in the period before 2012, when this was reported and a national controversy broke out at a time of debate about same-sex marriages. Despite this statement, Cathy continues to contribute to campaigns focused on his ideological political agenda.