The Cost of Leadership Change
Coming back to yesterday’s post about $WEN stock, I want to highlight another aspect that is crucial for the success and valuation of any company. In this case, it comes down to a guy named Kirk Tanner.
He was a long-term, successful executive at PepsiCo, having worked across their beverage and snacks businesses in highly responsible roles. Then in 2024, he saw an opportunity: becoming CEO of the fast-food chain Wendy’s, which had been struggling for several years. A true challenge.
Tanner stepped in as CEO in February 2024 and kicked off several initiatives that competitors like $MCD have used before as well: closing underperforming restaurants, strengthening the high-performing ones, opening new locations in growth areas (including internationally), improving the customer experience through Wendy’s app, and cutting costs with AI tools like FreshAI voice ordering. Basic things that are the normal playbook, but the problem was, it didn’t work. Revenue fell from $535M in Q1 2024 to $524M one year later, and same-store sales dropped about 2% globally. Stock price had fallen from $19 to $15 a share. Tanner must have realized during his first year that the turnaround he envisioned wasn’t happening.
So what next?
He was 56, a bit too early to retire, especially for someone whose life had been corporate-focused. Family responsibilities were mainly handled by his wife, and hobbies hadn’t been a priority for decades. The opportunity to enter Hershey, which was looking for a successor to long-term CEO Michele Buck came in handy. Whether Tanner was approached by a headhunter or initiated the move himself isn’t clear. What is clear is that, quite abruptly and with short notice, news broke in early July 2025 that he would become $HSY CEO starting July 18, 2025.
Was it about the money?
Unlikely. Research shows he earned about $17M during his first year at Wendy’s, and his compensation at Hershey is expected to be similar, roughly double what he made as CEO of PepsiCo’s NA Beverage business in 2023. So it’s doubtful that financial incentives drove the move. Rumors suggest he wasn’t happy with the progress he was able to achieve in his first year at Wendy’s, and indeed, results were disappointing. Investor pressure in addition to that? Probably. Leadership team discussions? Likely. Even the CFO changed 10 months after joining, maybe there were clashes.
Whatever the reasons, Tanner left for Hershey in July 2025, leaving Wendy’s in a precarious position. The CFO, who had no prior food industry experience and had only joined Wendy’s in late 2024 after a long tenure at UPS, had to step in as interim CEO. Share price responded accordingly, dropping from around $11 to ~$8.
Learning: There’s Value in Leadership
So, what’s the key takeaway from this story?
A company’s value doesn’t just come from revenue or earnings, it’s also deeply tied to the quality and reliability of its management.
All the major successful companies today have long-term CEOs who understand their business inside out: Tim Cook at Apple, Jensen Huang at NVIDIA, Elon Musk at Tesla, just a few examples. This leadership continuity builds investor trust, employee guidance, and resilience in challenging times.
And Tanner? His start at Hershey looks strong. $HSY stock is up more than 30% since he took the helm.
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