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Chipotle Mexican Grill has appointed Jason Kidd, the current global chief operating officer at Irvine’s Taco Bell, as its newest COO starting May 19.
Kidd joins the Newport Beach-based chain (NYSE: CMG) to oversee nearly 3,800 restaurants and 130,000 employees as of March.
Before he joined Taco Bell in February 2024, he was president of Hearing Lab Technology LLC for three years. Most of Kidd’s career was spent at Sam’s Club for 20 years, where he held several leadership roles in operations, merchandising, planning and supply chain. He also spent six years at 99 Cents Only Stores as senior vice president, operations then president and COO.
“His vast operational experience at large scale multi-unit retail will bring a strong foundation and new strategic thinking to our executive team,” Chipotle Chief Executive Scott Boatwright said in a statement.
“Chipotle’s current efforts to build a guest obsessed culture and modernize the back of house are exciting, and I believe there’s tremendous growth ahead for this incredible brand,” Kidd added.
Chipotle also announced that Jack Hartung, the company’s previous chief financial officer turned president and chief strategy officer after Brian Niccol’s departure, would step down on June 1 and remain as a senior advisor until retiring in 2026. Hartung had originally planned to retire in March 2025.
Shares of Chipotle are up 3.3% to $52 apiece during afterhours trading with a market cap of $68 billion.