Wendy's names Steve Cirulis CFO and Chief Strategy Officer

The Wendy's Company named Steve Cirulis arsenic its main fiscal serviceman and main strategy serviceman connected Monday, bringing successful a erstwhile Potbelly enforcement who antecedently partnered with Wendy's caller CEO connected a edifice turnaround.

Cirulis, 55, astir precocious served arsenic CFO and main strategy serviceman astatine Potbelly Sandwich Works, wherever helium and Wendy's President and CEO Bob Wright worked together. Their tenure astatine Potbelly delivered results the institution described arsenic a much than 500% emergence successful stock price, alongside double-digit mean portion measurement maturation and meaningful enlargement successful edifice margins. Cirulis near Potbelly successful December 2025, the institution said.

His resume anterior to Potbelly includes stints astatine Panera Bread, McDonald's, and Gap, Inc., which Wendy's said amounts to astir 30 years of acquisition spanning edifice and retail.

Cirulis succeeds Ken Cook, who has served arsenic CFO since 2024 and volition stay successful an advisory capableness done July. Kirk Tanner's unexpected exit prompted Wendy's to instal Cook arsenic interim CEO, a relation helium held from July 2025 until Wright's assignment successful May 2026. In designation of that service, the institution said it volition supply Cook with 24 months of wage continuation alternatively than the modular 12 months.

"Driving coagulated fiscal discipline, topline maturation and enhanced franchisee profitability are indispensable to our aboriginal success," Wright said successful a statement. "I americium assured that Steve volition play a captious relation arsenic we execute the turnaround of Wendy's."

"It is an grant to articulation this iconic marque astatine specified a pivotal clip successful its history," Cirulis said successful a statement. "I judge determination is simply a tremendous accidental astatine Wendy's to thrust topline growth, franchisee profitability and improved shareholder value."

Under his employment letter, Cirulis volition person a basal wage of $675,000 per twelvemonth and volition beryllium eligible for an yearly performance-based bonus with a people adjacent to 90% of his basal salary, the institution said. He volition besides beryllium eligible for semipermanent inducement awards with an archetypal annualized assistance day people just worth of $1,650,000.

Wendy's named Wright arsenic president and CEO successful May, ending a enactment hunt that lasted astir a year. According to Nation's Restaurant News, Wendy's has posted antagonistic same-store income successful each of the past 4 quarters, including a 7.8% driblet successful the archetypal 3 months of 2026. The institution has besides been navigating unit from activistic capitalist Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management.

Shares of Wendy's person shed astir 13% of their worth since January, according to Reuters.