Jack Cowin (/ˈkaʊɪn/, born 13 July 1942) is a Canadian-Australian businessman and entrepreneur with a long-term involvement in franchised fast food chains in Australia and Canada.
Cowin also has an ownership stake in the Lone Star Texas Grill restaurant chain in Canada, with upstream Australian investments in cattle stations and food processing.
[4][6] Cowin became an insurance salesman with London Life for four years in Toronto before deciding to visit Australia to assess some business opportunities.
Aged 26 years, Cowin returned to Australia to evaluate expanding Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) into the market that at that stage had limited fast food options.
[4] He bought the right to open ten KFC franchises in Western Australia, raised CA$10,000 each from thirty Canadians to launch the business in December 1969,[2] having moved with his wife and young child.
Cowin alleged that Burger King attempted to terminate Hungry Jack's contract on the grounds that the Australian franchisee was not opening new units as fast as was required under the agreement.
[9] The NSW Supreme Court ordered Burger King Corp. to pay A$45 million to Hungry Jack's Ltd. for lost profits from delayed restaurant openings, inability to sell third-party franchises, and cannibalization by the chain's corporate-owned locations.
[4] Cowin has served as a non-executive director of the TEN Television Network, Chandler MacLeod, Sydney Olympic Park Authority, and Fairfax Media.