Costco’s Billionaire Co-Founder Once Said He Would ‘Kill’ the CEO Who Wanted to Raise the Price of Its Hot-Dog-and-Soda Combo. Now, the Company Reveals Its Stance Amid Inflation.

The $1.50 combo made its debut in 1985.

By Amanda Breen • edited by Jessica Thomas • Sep 27, 2022

Costco’s customer-first approach has helped the wholesale giant cultivate a loyal fan base over the years — one that expects reliable membership perks like the $1.50 hot-dog-and-soda combo, which has remained at that price point since 1985.

The company’s co-founder Jim Sinegal even once famously said he’d “kill” Costco’s current CEO Craig Jelinek if he hiked the hot-dog-and-soda combo’s price, and it appears that message was heard loud and clear, per MarketWatch: Despite inflation, chief financial officer Richard Galanti has no plans to raise the price.

It was 2012 when Jelinek suggested increasing the combo’s price. Sinegal’s response, according to the CEO? “If you raise the [price of the] effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.”

“If you raise the effing hot dog, I will kill you. Figure it out.”

Jim Sinegal, Costco’s co-founder, to the company’s current CEO, Craig Jelinek is an all time quote. https://t.co/5JjCx3aM0u
— HARD FACTOR (@HardFactorNews) September 26, 2022

So perhaps it’s no surprise that when Galanti was asked during a presentation on Costco’s fourth-quarter-fiscal results which categories it’s cutting back on — and if the beloved combo is on the chopping block — he held true to the company’s ideals.

“We really don’t look at it that way,” he said, according to a transcript on S&P Global Market Intelligence. “I think the thing I mentioned earlier about there [being] some businesses that are doing well with margin, like [the] gas business, [in] a smaller way — in the travel business, those things help us be more aggressive in other areas, or, as you mentioned, hold the price on the hot dog and the soda a little longer — forever.”