Wendy's Company has announced that its president and CEO Kirk Tanner will step down from his role on 18 July 2025.

Ken Cook, the company's chief financial officer, has been appointed as interim CEO and Wendy's has initiated a search process to identify a permanent CEO.

Tanner will leave Wendy’s to become president and CEO of The Hershey Company.

Before joining Wendy's, Cook's 20 year career included roles at United Parcel Service, most recently as head of financial planning and analysis and previously as chief financial officer for UPS's $60bn US domestic segment.

Cook stated: “I look forward to executing on the strategic priorities we shared at our Investor Day: providing fresh, famous food, delivering an exceptional customer experience and accelerating global net unit growth.

“We have a strong team and the right strategy in place to create value for our customers, franchisees, employees and shareholders.”

Wendy's Company board chairman Art Winkleblack stated: “Our senior leadership team has established a very clear strategic blueprint for growth and is already beginning to execute on this strategy.

“We are grateful to Ken for accepting the role of interim CEO and have the utmost confidence in him and the senior leadership team to lead the company and to continue to execute on our growth plan."

“We understand Kirk's decision to return to the consumer-packaged goods industry and wish him well in leading Hershey.”

Wendy's has also announced that Bradley Peltz has been elected as a director of the company, replacing Matthew Peltz, who has resigned from the board.

In March 2025, Wendy’s unveiled its plan to add 1,000 net new restaurants worldwide by 2028.