Red Lobster’s new CEO secretly visited restaurants before becoming the boss

Fortune

Red Lobster CEO Damola Adamolekun went undercover to multiple locations months before he took over, assessing its food and how to improve the company.

Transcript

00:00Red Lobster's new CEO dined at its restaurants months before he took over.

00:04According to the Wall Street Journal, Damola Adam-Malekin began visiting Red Lobsters around

00:08the U.S. in May, when his status as the restaurant's future CEO was unknown to the other

00:12restaurant goers. For the most part, Adam-Malekin enjoyed the food and spoke with employees and

00:17regulars to better understand if it was worth joining the company. The 35-year-old was previously

00:22CEO at P.F. Chang's and told Fortune,

00:24For me, I don't separate work and I never really have been a person that separated work and life.

00:30Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and closed dozens of its restaurant locations.

00:35The chain blamed its struggles on a $20 all-you-can-eat shrimp promotion that wound

00:39up contributing to $11 million in losses, but is now betting on its new CEO to help its turnaround.

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