Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Yum! Brands names Chris Turner as next chief executive, continuing CFO-to-CEO pathway

Good morning. Yum! Brands, Inc. has promoted CFO Chris Turner to CEO in yet another example of an emerging succession trend in corporate leadership.

Yum, the parent company of household-name brands including KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, announced on Tuesday that Turner will start as chief executive on Oct. 1. Turner will succeed current CEO David Gibbs, who informed the board in March of his intention to retire.

Gibbs, who has served as CEO since 2020, has been with the company for 37 years in several leadership roles, including president and CFO. He was also the chief architect of Yum’s restaurant development strategy, transforming the company into a capital-light, pure-play franchisor.

The incoming and outgoing CEOs both had glowing words for each other on Tuesday. In a LinkedIn post, Turner thanked Gibbs for his guidance, calling him a “mentor to me during my time at Yum, and it has been incredible to work and learn alongside an industry icon.” Gibbs wrote that during his partnership with Turner, he has “demonstrated a deep knowledge of our business, strong values, and a clear commitment to our growth.”

Turner joined Yum in 2019 as CFO, his first time in the role. Last year, his position expanded to include chief franchise officer. Previously, Turner held senior roles at PepsiCo, including SVP and general manager, as well as SVP of transformation for PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America business. He previously spent more than 13 years at McKinsey & Company.

Yum rose 10 spots on this year’s Fortune 500 list, earning $7.5 billion in revenue in 2024. Turner is now tasked with continuing to deliver its secret sauce for brands like Taco Bell—which reached $1 billion in operating profit for the first time in 2024.

“Under Turner, we expect Yum will continue to exploit Taco Bell’s strong growth opportunities in the U.S. and internationally,” wrote David Swartz, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, in a Tuesday note. Swartz expects a smooth leadership transition as Yum promotes Turner to CEO and Gibbs stays on as an advisor until the end of 2026. He added that Turner has played a key role in Yum’s major technology initiatives, including its Byte AI restaurant management platform.

But there are also some challenges ahead for Turner, according to Morningstar. Yum needs to improve KFC and Pizza Hut sales in the U.S., where both brands face strong competition. And despite challenging economic conditions, the company will continue investing in Taco Bell and KFC’s international growth. Morningstar considers Yum’s shares fairly valued at $145, with no change to its capital allocation rating.

It’s unclear whether Yum has appointed a new CFO in Turner’s absence, and the company did not respond to my inquiry on the matter. Swartz told me that he thinks an external search for a finance chief is likely.

“CFOs move around a lot these days and I’m sure that Yum could find a strong outside candidate,” he said.

Yes, CFO turnover is certainly on the rise. You can find more Fortune 500 moves here.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Leaderboard

Paul Joachimczyk has been appointed CFO of Sonoco Products Company (NYSE: SON), a sustainable packaging provider, effective June 30. Joachimczyk previously was SVP, CFO and corporate secretary of American Woodmark Corporation. Before that, he was VP of finance for TopBuild Corp. and held finance leadership positions with Stanley Black & Decker and General Electric’s healthcare and capital markets divisions.

Kevin McKenzie was named CFO of Ensora Health, a software and services provider. McKenzie joins Ensora Health from Pure Healthcare, where he served as CEO and CFO. Before that, he held leadership roles at SimpleNexus, ProcessMAP, and AdvancedMD, where he led financial restructuring and operational integration for these SaaS companies.

Big Deal

As companies accelerate toward technology-driven business models, the tech C-suite continues to transform, according to a new survey released by Deloitte’s CIO Program.

Tech leadership is growing. Half of surveyed technology leaders say they have four or more tech C-suite leaders at their organization today. This signals technology’s broad and expanding influence across businesses, according to Deloitte.

Collaboration is key. Respondents list co-creating tech strategy alongside their peers as essential to thriving as a technology leader in the next 18 months.

According to the tech leaders, talent shortages and skills gaps persist. Forty-five percent say generative AI skills are the most urgently needed competency within their organizations.

And nearly seven in 10 technology leaders surveyed say they’ll increase their tech function's headcount in direct response to generative AI.

The findings are based on a survey of more than 600 C-level tech leaders in the U.S., including chief information officers, chief technology officers, chief information security officers, and chief data and analytics officers.

Going deeper

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady at its meeting later today, Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY, told CFO Daily. Officials continue to stress data dependence, and the bar for rate cuts remains high, Daco said.

“What’s changed is the nature of the risk: the combination of new trade tariffs and the potential for energy-driven price pressures could shift the inflation trajectory higher into year-end,” he said. “That likely reinforces policymakers’ cautious stance.”

Daco said that a September cut is still on the table. “But it increasingly hinges on a material softening of the economy, given inflation risks,” he added.