A Diet Coke Run Turned Into a $170,000 Retirement for Boise's 'Dan the Man'

Dan Simpson, a longtime Domino’s delivery driver in Boise, Idaho, has officially retired after more than 8,300 strangers gave over $170,000 to a GoFundMe in his name. The fund started after a customer’s doorbell camera filmed him buying a Diet Coke with his own money in March. He received a check dated April 30.¹²

The soda was not a grand gesture. The store had run out during a delivery, so Simpson, known around town as “Dan the Man,” bought one himself. A Boise family’s Ring doorbell camera caught the whole thing.¹²

That family was Brian Wilson and his wife, Katey. Both are visually impaired, so a quick run to the store is not simple for them, and Wilson said they rely on deliveries.²

Simpson had been delivering for Domino’s as a second job for 14 years. When the customer offered him a bigger tip, he turned it down and said the $6.60 he’d already gotten was a good tip.²³⁵ Thousands of strangers would soon form a different opinion.

From doorbell clip to retirement fund

The video went up on TikTok on March 28 and pulled in millions of views, plus recognition from Domino’s itself.² Commenters suggested raising money for the driver, and Wilson launched a GoFundMe titled “Tip for Dan the Pizza Man’s Retirement.”³⁵

“Let’s show Dan that his kindness didn’t go unnoticed,” Wilson said, as quoted by People.³

People noticed quickly. Within days the fund had reached about $133,000 from more than 6,000 donors, and by April 9 it stood at $145,914.⁴ Simpson, for his part, stayed modest about the whole thing. “All I did was stop and get a soda,” he told the Idaho Statesman in early April, according to People.³

It was a very well-compensated soda. The Wilsons stood beside Simpson as he received a GoFundMe check made out to “Dan The Man” for $170,931, dated April 30.²³ By Tuesday, May 5, more than $171,000 had been pledged by more than 8,300 people.²

Simpson told KTVB: “I got up this morning … and I checked my bank account and there was $163,000, what a retirement gift that was.”¹

Domino’s marked the occasion with a promotion from April 30 to May 3, letting customers use the code “DAN THE MAN.”¹² In a statement to ABC News, reported by WSOC, the company called Simpson’s actions a powerful reminder that small acts of service can have a big impact.²

What comes next

Simpson told KTVB he plans to spend retirement traveling, taking photographs and getting outdoors, and he might buy a van.² He was realistic about the budget, too.

“The world is my oyster kind of, as long as it’s not too expensive,” he told KTVB.²

Simpson has told KTVB that he has been sober for about 24 years, following time in prison after two DUI convictions.²

After TikTok fame, news cameras and an oversized check, he says what he wants is simple. “I’m ready for normal again,” he told KTVB.¹