LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Rick Carucci, 54, has been promoted to president of Yum! Brands Inc., and will report to David Novak, chairman and chief executive officer. Carucci was the company’s chief financial officer since 2005. Patrick Grismer, 50, was promoted to chief financial officer, reporting to Carucci. Grismer has previously chief planning and control officer for the company.
Leaders of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut in the US, Yum! Restaurants International (YRI) and corporate finance will report to Carucci. The CEOs of China, the company’s largest, highest growth and most profitable division, and India, a newly formed division designed to capitalize on future growth, as well as the YUM corporate functional leaders, will continue to report to Novak.
“Rick Carucci is an extraordinarily talented executive. He is a strategic thought leader, has great commercial savvy and at the same time, has clearly established himself as a champion of our powerful recognition culture,” Novak said. “Along with Sam Su, chairman and CEO of YUM China, Rick is an instrumental partner to me running YUM. Sam Su and I have committed to the YUM board of directors that we will continue to be actively involved in the leadership of our company in the coming years.
With Carucci’s promotion, the company has created a management triumvirate to best leverage scale and capitalize on its aggressive growth opportunities in emerging markets including China, India, Russia, Africa, France and Germany, he added.
Yum! Brands Inc., Louisville, Ky., calls itself the world’s largest restaurant company in terms of system restaurants, with more than 37,000 restaurants operating in 125 countries. KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell are category leaders of the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food, respectively.
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