Rick Cardenas

President & CEO, Darden Restaurants, Orlando

Darden owns and operates more than 1,900 restaurants, including the chains Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille and others. The company employs 190,000. Cardenas is a 35-year Darden veteran who was 16 when he got his first job bussing tables at a Red Lobster in his hometown, Orlando. (Darden used to own Red Lobster.) He worked there all through college, using his wages to pay for tuition at the University of Central Florida, where he majored in accounting and finance. After college, he held increasingly more responsible positions at Darden until he was named its fourth CEO in 2022. Coming full circle, he is now on UCF’s Board of Trustees.

EDUCATION: University of Central Florida (BA), Dartmouth College (MBA)