Darden CEO Gene Lee to retire May 29, 2022; COO Rick Cardenas named successor

DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC

Eugene I. Lee, Jr. to retire as CEO effective May 29, 2022; will serve as Executive Chairman until 2022 annual meeting, then non-executive Chairman.
Board elects President and COO Ricardo Cardenas as CEO and board member effective May 30, 2022. Cardenas joined Darden in 1984 as hourly employee.
During Lee's tenure, Darden's revenues increased >$2B and market cap tripled to ~$20B; total shareholder returns 1.5x S&P 500.
Cardenas served as CFO from 2016 to 2021 and COO since January 2021.

item 5.02 item 9.01

Executive movements

Machine-extracted from this filing. Every card cites the SEC source. See all recent executive movements.

Role change

Eugene I. Lee, Jr.

Executive Chairman

DRI · DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC

Effective: 2022-05-29
Successor: Ricardo Cardenas
Filed: December 17, 2021, 6:59 PM ET

Eugene I. Lee, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (the Company), informed the Board of Directors (Board) of the Company of his intention to retire as CEO effective May 29, 2022.

Appointed

Ricardo Cardenas

President and CEO

DRI · DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC

Effective: 2022-05-30
Filed: December 17, 2021, 6:59 PM ET

the Board appointed President and Chief Operating Officer Ricardo Cardenas to serve as the Company’s President and CEO beginning on May 30, 2022.

Appointed

Ricardo Cardenas

Director

DRI · DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC

Effective: 2022-05-30
Filed: December 17, 2021, 6:59 PM ET

the Board voted to increase the number of directors of the Company to nine and elected Mr. Cardenas as a director, all effective May 30, 2022.

Key facts

Extracted from this filing and checked against the source text.

Executive change SEC 8-K Item 5.02 confidence 0.95

Eugene I. Lee, Jr. changed role as Executive Chairman at DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC.

Action: retire
Role: Executive Chairman

Exact text from the filing

Eugene I. Lee, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (the Company), informed the Board of Directors (Board) of the Company of his intention to retire as CEO effective May 29, 2022.

View on SEC.gov

Executive change SEC 8-K Item 5.02 confidence 0.95

Ricardo Cardenas was appointed as President and CEO at DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC.

Action: appointed
Role: President and CEO

Exact text from the filing

the Board appointed President and Chief Operating Officer Ricardo Cardenas to serve as the Company’s President and CEO beginning on May 30, 2022.

View on SEC.gov

Executive change SEC 8-K Item 5.02 confidence 0.95

Ricardo Cardenas was elected as Director at DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC.

Action: elected
Role: Director

Exact text from the filing

the Board voted to increase the number of directors of the Company to nine and elected Mr. Cardenas as a director, all effective May 30, 2022.

View on SEC.gov

DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC filing history →

Source: SEC EDGAR

accession 0000940944-21-000091

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