CEO training ground for the restaurant industry

Looking for the next CEO for your restaurant chain? Try mining the ranks at Yum Brands.

The restaurant conglomerate, which owns Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell and reported quarterly results Tuesday, has supplied rival eateries with CEOs for decades. Between its globally recognized chains, massive international footprint and company culture, Yum has quietly become an incubator for future industry leaders.

“They have such a strong focus on leadership development, and in the past couple of decades, they have had very, very strong CEOs who have led very much ‘people first’ or ‘culture first,'” said Sarah Lockyer, chief brand officer of The Elliot Group, an executive search firm.

Yum’s status as a CEO training ground can trace back to its days as part of PepsiCo, which is also known for its talent development. The food and beverage giant owned KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell before spinning off the business as Tricon Global Restaurants in 1997. Five years later, the company was renamed Yum.

“Our commitment to unrivaled culture and talent enables our leaders to drive impact across our global business,” a Yum spoksperson said in a statement to CNBC. “As the largest restaurant company in the world, we’re proud that many industry leaders have roots at Yum!, and our strength is in how we continue to grow and elevate exceptional talent within our own organization.”

Lockyer pointed to past Yum CEOs like David Novak and Greg Creed, who she said gave other executives at the company the chance to shine and opportunities to grow their confidence and their resumes.

Take Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol. After starting his career at Procter & Gamble, he joined Yum in late 2005, when Novak led the company. Niccol had a stint as chief marketing officer of Pizza Hut before moving over to Taco Bell, where he introduced the chain’s Live Mas tagline and Doritos Loco Tacos.

When Creed transitioned from Taco Bell CEO to chief executive of Yum, Niccol took over his vacated role as head of the Mexican-inspired chain. Niccol left in 2018 to lead a turnaround at Chipotle, where he stayed for more than six years before Starbucks lured him away for another fix-up job.

While the coffee giant is still reporting same-store sales declines, Niccol said during the company’s earnings conference call last week that the comeback is ahead of schedule.

Another much-lauded restaurant CEO with Yum connections is Kevin Hochman, who currently leads Brinker International. He joined Yum in 2014 as chief marketing officer of KFC and eventually rose to lead the U.S. businesses of both the fried chicken chain and Pizza Hut. He left Yum in 2022 to revive Brinker, which owns Chili’s and Maggiano’s Little Italy.

Under Hochman’s leadership, Chili’s has become the rare restaurant chain reporting double-digit same-store sales…