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So much for Jack Hartung’s quiet retirement. Again.
Last July, Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) announced that Hartung, then CFO of the Newport Beach fast casual chain, had decided to retire after 25 years at the company, effective early 2025.
That plan didn’t last long, as Chipotle’s then-CEO, Brian Niccol, was hired as CEO of Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX) the following month. Hartung opted to remain with OC’s most valuable public company indefinitely, as president of strategy, finance and supply chain, to “ensure a smooth transition,” according to Chipotle.
On May 6, a new retirement date—June 1—was set for Hartung, with former Taco Bell exec Jason Kidd brought on as the $70 billion-valued company’s COO. See last week’s print edition for more on the move.
Ten days later, Hartung (who will remain as senior advisor to Chipotle) had a new, high-profile role: the board of directors of Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA), effective June 1.
A social media post by $1-trillion valued Tesla announcing the appointment noted “Jack was named CFO of the Year (in 2020, in the Public Company sector) by Orange County Business Journal and Best CFO in the restaurant category by Institutional Investor.”
Jack Hartung, who will be a member of the Audit Committee at Tesla, will have his hands full at the EV giant, whose shares are off some 10% this year amid falling profits and a damaged brand resulting from CEO Elon Musk’s behavior.
The Wall Street Journal reported this month that Tesla’s board had opened a search for a CEO to succeed Musk, the world’s wealthiest person. Tesla denied the report.
Hartung’s no stranger to the Musk family. Elon’s brother Kimbal Musk served on the board of Chipotle Mexican Grill from 2013 to 2019. Kimbal Musk also is a member of Tesla’s soon-to-be 9-person board.
If Tesla wants a quick stock boost, perhaps Hartung can contact his old boss? Starbucks stock jumped nearly 25% after news of Brian Niccol’s hire last summer, and Chipotle stock rose 10-fold during Niccol’s roughly 6-year tenure.
Having a “60 Minute” reporter show up at a company’s doorstep used to be a sign of impending crisis for that company, but Anduril Industries’ Palmer Luckey welcomed the show’s correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi to its HQ in Costa Mesa, to show off the company’s AI-powered tech weapons. Read Nancy Luna’s story on page 1.
On social media, Luckey said this of the broadcast: “We hosted them getting up close and personal with our YFQ-44 prototype (an autonomous fighter jet Anduril refers to as Fury) and showed that even a journalist can effectively command an autonomous submarine!”
The TV show came a few weeks after Anduril execs showed off their Roadrunner drone at an event in the Oval Office with the president.