SCOTT
BOATWRIGHT, COO AND 7-YEAR CHIPOTLE VETERAN, NAMED INTERIM
CEO
JACK HARTUNG TO REMAIN WITH COMPANY AS
PRESIDENT, STRATEGY, FINANCE & SUPPLY CHAIN
NEWPORT
BEACH, Calif., Aug. 13,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
(NYSE: CMG) today announced that Brian
Niccol, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has accepted
the role as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks and
will be leaving the Company effective August
31, 2024. Niccol has served as Chipotle's CEO since 2018 and
as Chairman of the Board since 2020.
Chipotle's Board of Directors has appointed Scott Boatwright, Chief Operating Officer, as
Interim CEO. Boatwright joined Chipotle in 2017 and has been
instrumental in driving restaurant operations for the company's
more than 120,000 employees and over 3,500 restaurants. He also led
the integration of new technology into restaurants, built a strong
culture aligned to the organization's values, and achieved
industry-leading retention rates yielding impressive results and
improvements in throughput and the overall guest experience.
Boatwright played a critical role as part of the leadership team
that created and executed the turnaround strategy that has
delivered incredible results since it began in 2018. Boatwright and
the esteemed leadership team will continue to execute the company's
strategic plan without interruption.
In addition, Jack Hartung, who
recently announced his retirement from Chipotle in 2025, has
agreed to remain with the organization indefinitely as President of
Strategy, Finance and Supply Chain to ensure a smooth transition.
In this new role, Hartung will support Boatwright as Interim
CEO, and continue his current oversight of Adam Rymer, Vice President of Finance and
incoming CFO, as well as Carlos
Londono, global head of Supply Chain.
With this leadership change, Scott
Maw, Chipotle's Lead Independent Director, has been named
Chairman of the Board, effective immediately. "Thanks to our robust
talent planning process, we are well-prepared for events like this
due to the deep bench within the organization," said Scott Maw, Chipotle's Chairman of the Board.
"The board is excited to see other strong leaders expand their
roles and provide growth and development for more people in the
organization," added Maw.
"I'm incredibly proud of the work that has been accomplished
since I joined Chipotle in 2018," said Brian Niccol. "The strategic priorities this
team has put in place have positioned Chipotle to win today and
enable future growth. It's hard to leave such a great company and
all of the talented people I've had the pleasure to work with, but
I depart knowing the business is in great shape and poised for
growth with a strong, experienced leadership team."
Scott Boatwright added: "I have
the utmost confidence in our five key strategies and I'm excited
for the new opportunity to lead the business moving forward. We
have a world-class organization full of talented leaders who are
passionate about our brand and purpose and excited for the
long-term opportunity to grow to 7,000 restaurants in North America and expand internationally."
About Chipotle
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
(NYSE: CMG) is cultivating a better world by serving
responsibly sourced, classically-cooked, real food with wholesome
ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.
There are over 3,500 restaurants as of June 30, 2024, in
the United States, Canada, the United
Kingdom, France,
Germany, and Kuwait and it is the only restaurant company
of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants in
North America and Europe. Chipotle is ranked on the
Fortune 500 and is recognized on Fortune's Most Admired Companies
2024 list and Time Magazine's Most Influential Companies. With over
120,000 employees passionate about providing a great guest
experience, Chipotle is a longtime leader and
innovator in the food industry. Chipotle is committed
to making its food more accessible to everyone while continuing to
be a brand with a demonstrated purpose as it leads the way in
digital, technology and sustainable business practices. For more
information or to place an order online, visit
Chipotle.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in
this press release are forward-looking statements as defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including
statements about Chipotle's future growth potential and statements
that begin with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "could",
"should", "may", and similar terms and phrases. The forward-looking
statements in this press release are based on currently available
operating, financial and competitive information available to us as
of the date of this release and we assume no obligation to update
these forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those described in the statements, including but
not limited to: increasing wage inflation, and the competitive
labor market; the impact of any union organizing efforts and our
responses to such efforts; increasing supply costs; risks of food
safety incidents and food-borne illnesses; risks associated with
our reliance on certain information technology systems and
potential material failures, interruptions or outages; privacy and
cyber security risks; the impact of competition, including from
sources outside the restaurant industry; the impact of federal,
state or local government regulations relating to our employees,
employment practices, restaurant design and construction, and the
sale of food or alcoholic beverages; our ability to achieve our
planned growth, such as the costs and availability of suitable new
restaurant sites, construction materials and contractors; the
expected costs and risks related to our international expansion;
increases in ingredient and other operating costs due to inflation,
global conflicts, severe weather and climate change, our Food with
Integrity philosophy, tariffs or trade restrictions; intermittent
supply shortages; the uncertainty of our ability to achieve
expected levels of comparable restaurant sales due to factors such
as changes in guests' perceptions of our brand, including as a
result of negative publicity or social media posts, decreased
consumer spending, or the inability to increase menu prices or
realize the benefits of menu price increases; risks associated with
our digital business, including risks arising from our reliance on
third party delivery services and the IT infrastructure; litigation
risks, including possible governmental actions and potential class
action litigation related to food safety incidents, cybersecurity
incidents, employment or privacy laws, advertising claims, contract
disputes or other matters; and other risk factors described from
time to time in our SEC reports, including our annual report on
Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, all of which are
available on the investor relations page of our website at
ir.Chipotle.com.
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SOURCE Chipotle Mexican Grill