Darden Restaurants, Inc. ·DRI

Brand presidents run P&Ls directly under the CEO

Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure · Fortune #370 · Divisional structure · 191K employees · Orlando, Florida

View as of:
6
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 8)
2.3
Avg span
tight
3
Max depth
flat for 191K emp
5.8 yr
Avg tenure
↑ 1.0yr from FY2024
100%
Internal hires
↑ above industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-05-25 · 10-K
Revenue
$12.1B
Operating income
$1.4B
Net income
$1.0B
Total assets
$12.6B
Shares out
117M

Sourced from Darden Restaurants, Inc. DEF 14A · filed 2025-08-04 ↗ View on SEC

Interactive org chart

Darden Restaurants, Inc. organizational chart

Explore the executive structure, reporting layers, and scenario-ready operating model from public filings.

Open editable chart

Brand presidents with full P&L control report directly to Darden’s CEO. This page maps the divisional org structure, executive team, recent leadership changes, and compares Darden’s model with restaurant peers.

What to model

Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines

Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.

Latest signal John Wilkerson moved into President, Olive Garden

Appointed effective September 1, 2025.

Source · See change log

Scenario views in the chart

  • Add Chief Operating Officer Introduce a COO role to consolidate operational oversight across brands.
  • Consolidate Brand Presidents Shift brand presidents to report to a single group president to reduce CEO span.

Atlas work this supports

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The people

Who's running this

6 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.

internal

Ricardo Cardenas

President and Chief Executive Officer

Executive

4 yr

11 reports

internal

Rajesh Vennam

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Finance

5 yr

3 reports

internal

Todd A. Burrowes

Group President

Operations

7 yr

1 reports

internal

M. John Martin

Group President

Operations

6 yr

1 reports

internal

John Wilkerson

President, Olive Garden

Brand Operations

1 yr

0 reports

internal

Matthew R. Broad

Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer

Legal

8 yr

1 reports

The pay

Executive compensation

From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 1 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.

Ricardo Cardenas $14.0M
Base salary
$1.27M
Stock awards
$8.10M
Option awards
$2.19M
Non-equity incentive
$1.90M
Other
$534K
Fiscal year
FY2025
Source
SEC DEF 14A ↗

The skin in the game

Beneficial ownership

Insider stock holdings and the company's ownership requirements for executives and directors. Disclosed in the most recent DEF 14A.

Stock ownership requirements

Executives and directors are subject to stock ownership requirements per proxy disclosure.

The businesses

How Darden Restaurants, Inc. divides the work

3 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.

Olive Garden

90K employees

President, Olive Garden (John Wilkerson)

Darden’s largest brand and primary earnings driver.

Finance

2K employees

CFO (Rajesh Vennam)

Oversees financial reporting, capital allocation and controls.

Legal & Compliance

400 employees

General Counsel (Matthew R. Broad)

Manages legal risk, compliance and corporate governance.

The thesis

Why this org is unusual

Brand presidents with direct P&L accountability report straight to the CEO, rather than through a centralized COO.

Darden’s structure emphasizes divisional autonomy, with Olive Garden and other major brands led by presidents who control operations, strategy and performance. This keeps the org relatively flat at the top while pushing accountability down to brand leaders.
  • No COO role
  • Brand presidents hold P&L responsibility

The comparison

How Darden Restaurants, Inc. stacks up

Compared with other large restaurant groups, Darden is more decentralized. Peers such as Yum! Brands rely more heavily on franchising and regional hierarchies, while Darden keeps company-owned brands under presidents reporting directly to the CEO. This mirrors a consumer packaged goods-style divisional model more than …

C-suite size

Darden Restaurants, Inc.
6
Yum! Brands
8
McDonald's
10
Restaurant Brands International
9
Bloomin' Brands
7

Reporting depth

Darden Restaurants, Inc.
3 levels
Yum! Brands
5 levels
McDonald's
6 levels
Restaurant Brands International
5 levels
Bloomin' Brands
4 levels

Avg C-suite tenure

Darden Restaurants, Inc.
6 yr
Yum! Brands
4 yr
McDonald's
5 yr
Restaurant Brands International
4 yr
Bloomin' Brands
6 yr

Has COO / Has CAIO

Darden Restaurants, Inc. — no COO — no CAIO
Yum! Brands ✓ COO — no CAIO
McDonald's — no COO — no CAIO
Restaurant Brands International ✓ COO — no CAIO
Bloomin' Brands ✓ COO — no CAIO

Current signals

What changed recently

Leadership turnover centered on the Olive Garden presidency, with John Wilkerson succeeding Dan Kiernan in September 2025.

  • promoted
    John Wilkerson President, Olive Garden

    Appointed effective September 1, 2025.

    Source
  • departed
    Daniel J. Kiernan President, Olive Garden

    Retired effective August 31, 2025.

    Source

Leadership Timeline

Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.

FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2025-08-04
CEO
Ricardo Cardenas
CEO span
6
C-suite
5
Avg tenure
5.6 yr

Olive Garden leadership transition announced during the year.

Named executive officers (5)
  • Ricardo Cardenas - President and CEO since 2022
  • Rajesh Vennam - CFO since 2019
  • Todd A. Burrowes - Group President since 2018
  • Daniel J. Kiernan - President, Olive Garden since 2019
  • M. John Martin - Group President since 2019
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2024-08-05
CEO
Ricardo Cardenas
CEO span
6
C-suite
5
Avg tenure
4.8 yr

Stable executive team following CEO transition.

FY2023
DEF 14A filed 2023-08-07
CEO
Ricardo Cardenas
CEO span
6
C-suite
5
Avg tenure
3.9 yr

Early phase of Cardenas’ tenure as CEO.

Year-over-year changes

FY2024 → FY2025

Brand leadership changed at Olive Garden while overall top-team structure remained stable.

  • CEO span: 6 → 6
  • C-suite size: 5 → 5
  • Avg tenure: 4.8 → 5.6 yr
  • departed Daniel J. Kiernan - President, Olive Garden (8-K Filing, 2025-06-20)
  • new John Wilkerson - President, Olive Garden (was President, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen) (8-K Filing, 2025-06-20)

The board

Board of directors

2 directors. 2 of 2 independent (100%). Source: most recent DEF 14A.

Cynthia T. Jamison

Chair Independent

Retired turnaround CFO

Director since 2014 · Age 65

Margaret Shan Atkins

Independent

Retired Co-Founder, Chetrum Capital LLC

Director since 2014 · Age 68

The board, organized

Board committees

1 standing committees. Audit and Compensation must be 100% independent under SEC rules; the rest vary.

Audit Committee

100% independent
  • Margaret Shan Atkins Chair

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the CEO of Darden Restaurants?

Ricardo Cardenas has served as President and CEO since 2022.

What type of organizational structure does Darden Restaurants use?

Darden uses a divisional structure organized around brand presidents with P&L responsibility.

How many direct reports does Darden Restaurants' CEO have?

The CEO has six direct reports, including brand presidents and functional leaders.

How has Darden Restaurants' leadership changed recently?

In 2025, Dan Kiernan retired as Olive Garden president and John Wilkerson was appointed as his successor.

Does Darden Restaurants have a COO?

No, Darden does not have a COO; brand presidents report directly to the CEO.

Sources

  • 8-K Filing, Jun 2025
  • SEC EDGAR: Darden Restaurants, Inc. DEF 14A Proxy Statement
  • SEC EDGAR: Darden Restaurants, Inc. 10-K Annual Report

Reference

Cite this page

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APA 7th
Creately. (2026). Darden Restaurants, Inc. organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/darden-restaurants/
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"Darden Restaurants, Inc. Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/darden-restaurants/. Accessed .
Chicago 17
Creately. "Darden Restaurants, Inc. Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/darden-restaurants/.
Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Darden Restaurants, Inc.. DEF 14A. Filed 2025-08-04. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/940944/000095017025101699/dri-20250804.htm

Permanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/darden-restaurants/ · last updated 2026-04-01

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