Darden Restaurants Management
Management criteria checks 4/4
Darden Restaurants' CEO is Rick Cardenas, appointed in Jan 2021, has a tenure of 5.08 years. total yearly compensation is $14.00M, comprised of 9% salary and 91% bonuses, including company stock and options. directly owns 0.069% of the company’s shares, worth $16.85M. The average tenure of the management team and the board of directors is 6.6 years and 11.3 years respectively.
Key information
Rick Cardenas
Chief executive officer
US$14.0m
Total compensation
| CEO salary percentage | 9.04% |
| CEO tenure | 5.1yrs |
| CEO ownership | 0.07% |
| Management average tenure | 6.6yrs |
| Board average tenure | 11.3yrs |
Recent management updates
Recent updates
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Just Released Its Second-Quarter Results And Analysts Are Updating Their Estimates
Jan 02
Darden Restaurants: Pricing Power, Scale, And The Cost Of Beef Inflation
Dec 26Estimating The Fair Value Of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)
Sep 09Does Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Have A Healthy Balance Sheet?
Aug 08Unpleasant Surprises Could Be In Store For Darden Restaurants, Inc.'s (NYSE:DRI) Shares
May 08Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) Has A Pretty Healthy Balance Sheet
Apr 23Darden: A Win Streak With An Expiration Date
Apr 20Darden Restaurants' Earnings: The Valuation Gap With The Industry Offers Upside
Mar 30A Look At The Intrinsic Value Of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)
Mar 16Darden: Terrible Price For Slower Comparable Sales Trends And Inflation Risks
Jan 21Darden Restaurants: Solid Q2 Results Reflected In Valuation (Downgrade)
Dec 19Darden Restaurants Cooks Up Future Growth As Consumer Confidence Sizzles
Nov 27Darden Restaurants: Partnership With Uber Could Bring Incremental Sales
Sep 25
Uber Direct And Menu Innovations Set To Enhance Dining Experience And Boost Sales
Expansion into delivery services with Uber Direct could enhance off-premise sales by meeting customer demands for convenience without impacting dining experience.Darden Restaurants: Olive Garden May Surprise Positively
Sep 16CEO Compensation Analysis
| Date | Total Compensation | Salary | Company Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 23 2025 | n/a | n/a | US$1b |
| Aug 24 2025 | n/a | n/a | US$1b |
| May 25 2025 | US$14m | US$1m | US$1b |
| Feb 23 2025 | n/a | n/a | US$1b |
| Nov 24 2024 | n/a | n/a | US$1b |
| Aug 25 2024 | n/a | n/a | US$1b |
| May 26 2024 | US$12m | US$1m | US$1b |
| Feb 25 2024 | n/a | n/a | US$1b |
| Nov 26 2023 | n/a | n/a | US$1b |
| Aug 27 2023 | n/a | n/a | US$985m |
| May 28 2023 | US$9m | US$1m | US$984m |
| Feb 26 2023 | n/a | n/a | US$950m |
| Nov 27 2022 | n/a | n/a | US$911m |
| Aug 28 2022 | n/a | n/a | US$917m |
| May 29 2022 | US$5m | US$796k | US$955m |
| Feb 27 2022 | n/a | n/a | US$1b |
| Nov 28 2021 | n/a | n/a | US$923m |
| Aug 29 2021 | n/a | n/a | US$827m |
| May 30 2021 | US$4m | US$745k | US$632m |
| Feb 28 2021 | n/a | n/a | -US$216m |
| Nov 29 2020 | n/a | n/a | -US$112m |
| Aug 30 2020 | n/a | n/a | -US$184m |
| May 31 2020 | US$3m | US$686k | -US$49m |
| Feb 23 2020 | n/a | n/a | US$639m |
| Nov 24 2019 | n/a | n/a | US$631m |
| Aug 25 2019 | n/a | n/a | US$722m |
| May 26 2019 | US$3m | US$687k | US$719m |
Compensation vs Market: Rick's total compensation ($USD14.00M) is about average for companies of similar size in the US market ($USD13.12M).
Compensation vs Earnings: Rick's compensation has been consistent with company performance over the past year.
CEO
Rick Cardenas (57 yo)
Mr. Ricardo Cardenas, also known as Rick, serves as President at Darden Restaurants, Inc. since January 4, 2021 and is its Chief Executive Officer and Director since May 30, 2022 and served as its Chief Op...
Leadership Team
| Name | Position | Tenure | Compensation | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEO, President & Director | 5.1yrs | US$14.00m | 0.069% $ 17.2m | |
| Senior VP & CFO | 5.1yrs | US$4.64m | 0.0078% $ 2.0m | |
| President of Business Development | 1.8yrs | US$3.49m | 0.038% $ 9.6m | |
| President of Specialty Restaurant Group | 22.1yrs | US$3.06m | 0.015% $ 3.7m | |
| President of Olive Garden | 8.1yrs | US$3.70m | 0.031% $ 7.7m | |
| Senior VP & Chief Information Officer | 9.8yrs | no data | no data | |
| Senior VP | no data | no data | 0.0017% $ 415.3k | |
| Senior VP and Chief Communications & Public Affairs Officer | 10.5yrs | no data | 0.0036% $ 890.6k | |
| Senior VP & Chief People Officer | 8.9yrs | no data | 0.00058% $ 145.1k | |
| Senior VP & Chief Supply Chain Officer | 10.8yrs | no data | 0.0033% $ 825.5k | |
| Senior Vice President of Finance for Olive Garden | 1.7yrs | no data | no data | |
| Senior Vice President of Marketing - Olive Garden | 4.1yrs | no data | no data |
Experienced Management: DRI's management team is seasoned and experienced (6.6 years average tenure).
Board Members
| Name | Position | Tenure | Compensation | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEO, President & Director | 3.8yrs | US$14.00m | 0.069% $ 17.2m | |
| Independent Director | 11.3yrs | US$404.38k | 0.0010% $ 252.7k | |
| Independent Director | 12.1yrs | US$349.12k | 0.023% $ 5.8m | |
| Independent Director | 12.1yrs | US$494.68k | 0.017% $ 4.2m | |
| Independent Chair of the Board | 12.1yrs | US$558.33k | 0.0060% $ 1.5m | |
| Independent Director | 7.4yrs | US$387.33k | 0.024% $ 5.9m | |
| Independent Director | 3.9yrs | US$350.35k | 0.0037% $ 925.6k | |
| Independent Director | 11.3yrs | US$321.16k | 0.0075% $ 1.9m | |
| Independent Director | 1.2yrs | US$198.79k | 0.0013% $ 317.7k |
Experienced Board: DRI's board of directors are seasoned and experienced ( 11.3 years average tenure).
Company Analysis and Financial Data Status
| Data | Last Updated (UTC time) |
|---|---|
| Company Analysis | 2026/02/22 02:49 |
| End of Day Share Price | 2026/02/20 00:00 |
| Earnings | 2025/11/23 |
| Annual Earnings | 2025/05/25 |
Data Sources
The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.
| Package | Data | Timeframe | Example US Source * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company Financials | 10 years |
| |
| Analyst Consensus Estimates | +3 years |
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| Market Prices | 30 years |
| |
| Ownership | 10 years |
| |
| Management | 10 years |
| |
| Key Developments | 10 years |
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* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.
Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.
Analysis Model and Snowflake
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Industry and Sector Metrics
Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.
Analyst Sources
Darden Restaurants, Inc. is covered by 48 analysts. 29 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.
| Analyst | Institution |
|---|---|
| John Staszak | Argus Research Company |
| David Tarantino | Baird |
| Jeffrey Bernstein | Barclays |