Just a year and a half after joining Taco Bell as its Global Chief Brand Officer, Sean Tresvant has been promoted to CEO, making him the first Black person in that role, according to Blackbusiness.com. The 43-year-old will be in charge of the over 7,000 restaurants of the Mexican fast-food chain, taking over from Mark King, who plans to retire at the end of the year.
Tresvant will begin his new role on January 1, 2024, and will report to Chief Executive Officer David Gibbs of Yum! Brands, Inc. (Taco Bell’s parent company). Gibbs said Tresvant is “a visionary business leader and best-in-class brand builder.”
“Sean is laser-focused on keeping our powerhouse Taco Bell brand at the leading edge of culture and redefining innovation in the industry,” Gibbs said in a statement, adding that Tresvant is “the ideal executive to continue successfully executing Taco Bell’s long-term global growth strategies and take them to the next level.”
Before joining Taco Bell in January 2022 as Global Chief Brand Officer, Tresvant worked at Nike, spending more than 15 years there holding leadership positions including being Chief Marketing Officer of the Jordan Brand.
After joining Taco Bell, his Global Chief Brand Officer role expanded earlier this year to include strategy. All in all, he presently oversees the brand’s strategy, food innovation, architecture and design, global communications and its international business, a statement by the brand said. Tresvant has so far in this role helped drive “massive awareness and buzz” for the brand thanks to celebrity partnerships and the return of the favorite Mexican Pizza, the statement added.
When he becomes CEO, he will oversee the fast-food chain’s growth strategies, franchise operations and overall performance. “The love our fans and team members have for Taco Bell is extraordinary and means we’re in a unique position to push the limits on culture and become a brand that inspires and enables the world to Live Más,” said Tresvant, referring to Taco Bell’s motto.
He will now be among the few Black CEOs at major restaurant companies along with Damola Adamolekun, who recently became the first Black CEO of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, a popular Asian restaurant chain founded in 1993.
There is still a diversity issue in the restaurant industry. In 2014, the sector had six black CEOs among its publicly traded companies, according to figures cited by Restaurant Business.
