New York — The departure of Papa John’s International chairman John Schnatter over his use of a racist slur comforted wary investors who had fretted that the outspoken founder risked tarnishing the pizza maker’s reputation. The independent directors of the company accepted Schnatter’s resignation on Wednesday. A new chairman would be appointed in coming weeks. Shares of Papa John’s rose as much as 5.5% on Thursday before the start of regular trading in New York. Seven months after exiting the CEO role over critical comments about the National Football League’s national anthem dispute, Schnatter came under pressure again on Wednesday following a media report that he used a racial slur and graphic descriptions of violence against minorities on a conference call with a media agency. Schnatter admitted to using an offensive racial term during the call and apologised, according to a separate statement earlier on Wednesday.
“News reports attributing the use of inappropriate and hurt...
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