Olive Garden’s parent company Darden Restaurants Inc. said that its chief executive plans to retire next year, and the company gave a lower-than-expected profit outlook for the rest of the fiscal year.
Gene Lee, the chairman and CEO who has led Darden for about seven years, will step down at the end of May, the company said. Ricardo Cardenas, the company’s chief operating officer, will be Mr. Lee’s successor. Mr. Lee, 60 years old, plans to continue to serve on Darden’s board of directors in a nonexecutive capacity, Darden said.
