Today, turning 70 feels like turning 50 used to, prompting corporate boards to recruit seasoned executives to stabilize their businesses.
Rocking chairs for sale lined the porch of a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store earlier this year. The casual dining chain had just hired a retired restaurant executive to be its new chief executive. In January, recruiters from Spencer Stuart began contacting industry executives, asking if they were interested in becoming the new CEO of Cracker Barrel (stock code CBRL, down 2.38%). The company's decision to tap a 69-year-old retired restaurant executive to lead the company reflects a growing trend: corporate boards are recalling former CEOs from the sidelines, relying on their experience to drive major turnarounds.
According to sources, Cracker Barrel's brand overhaul had sparked public backlash, leading to a sharp decline in store sales. The family-dining chain's board and its then-Gen X female CEO mutually agreed to find a successor together. In recent years, companies like Boeing (stock code BA, up 0.95%) and Verizon Communications (stock code VZ, up 2.03%) have also hired formerly retired CEOs. Corporate governance experts say that a veteran executive can instantly bring credibility and hard-won experience, though research shows that the ultimate performance of a returning CEO is mixed.
For the executives themselves, the allure of returning to the corner office is strong: solving new business challenges, running a large corporation again, and enjoying the associated power and perks. "In the U.S., there are virtually no truly retired CEOs," said Matteo Tonello, head of data and benchmarking at The Conference Board. "These executives haven't fully exited; they've just transitioned into professional directors." Many executives, after serving on boards for a time, choose to return to the top job.
David Deno, Cracker Barrel's new CEO, served as the CEO of Outback Steakhouse parent company Bloomin' Brands (stock code BLMN, up 7.56%) from 2019 to 2024. After retiring from Bloomin' Brands in 2024, he served on the boards of Krispy Kreme and Panera Bread. This retired executive took over Cracker Barrel after his retirement. Deno is taking the reins at a particularly unusual time for Cracker Barrel. For most of the past year, the company has been absorbing the negative impact of a failed brand modernization effort. His predecessor, 55-year-old Julie Masino, had sought to update the store's visual style and refresh the menu to attract younger customers. But the overhaul alienated many long-time customers, drawing criticism from figures like former President Donald Trump, who felt the brand had abandoned its American country roots. After the company fully reversed the changes, its stock price has recently returned to an upward trend.
Management experts say the company's CEO search was aimed at calming investors. However, the pool of candidates with deep industry experience who could also win Wall Street's trust is very small. "After filtering for all the conditions, a candidate's age becomes a secondary consideration because the talent pool itself is quite small," Tonello said. According to regulatory filings, Cracker Barrel is reimbursing Deno $465,000 in relocation expenses to move to Nashville, Tennessee, and will provide a company apartment, allowing him to fly twice a month to his home in St. Petersburg, Florida. Deno's base salary is $1 million. Masino, who is departing, will receive a total of $4.6 million in severance payments spread over two years.
Many retired CEOs say they need significant persuasion to end their retirement. Verizon last year hired former PayPal (PYPL, down 0.14%) CEO Dan Schulman to lead the company. At the time, Schulman was enjoying a quiet retirement on his Montana ranch, riding horses, managing cattle, and studying cattle prices. "I was having the most blissful retirement," said the 68-year-old Schulman. "I thought I was the poster child for a great retirement." Schulman, who had served as a Verizon director for years, saw the company at a critical turning point. "I wouldn't have taken the job if I didn't believe the company was set up for a transformation," he said last year. Boeing, meanwhile, hired 64-year-old Kelly Ortberg as CEO in 2024, waiving its mandatory retirement age for executives. Ortberg previously ran Rockwell Collins, a key Boeing supplier that was acquired by aerospace conglomerate RTX in 2018; he retired in 2021 but remained on RTX's board.
Jo-Ellen Pozner, an associate professor of management at Santa Clara University, categorizes returning retired CEOs into two groups: those who remain active in the business world as directors or advisors, and those who find retirement empty and miss the prestige of running a company. "Some executives lack purpose in retirement and get bored," Pozner said. "They no longer have a group of people constantly validating and praising them." The performance of returning CEOs is mixed. A 2020 study by Spencer Stuart found that while nearly all CEOs outperformed the market during their first stint, only about 40% of those who returned for a second stint were able to generate excess returns again. The study, spanning 20 years and covering 855 CEOs from the S&P 500, included 106 executives with prior CEO experience and 749 first-time CEOs.
Restaurant industry insiders and management experts say the turnaround at Cracker Barrel is extremely challenging. "No one can say he has a magic solution because there aren't any easy fixes in this industry," Pozner said of Deno's path forward. Deno rose from CFO to CEO at Bloomin' Brands, leading the company through the pandemic. He made a prescient early decision not to lay off employees, which helped its restaurants recover faster. However, the company's stock price was largely flat during his tenure. In a 2024 interview at the University of Michigan, Deno said the core of a CEO's job is building corporate culture. "Many people don't understand that I spend about 60% of my energy on culture, leadership, and team building. Without a solid team, a company can't function," he said.
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