Fortress Investment Group announced on Monday that Damola Adamolekun will become the chief executive of RL Investor Holdings LLC, a new corporate entity set to acquire Red Lobster following a court approval of the restaurant’s Chapter 11 plan, which is expected next month. Red Lobster would continue to operate as an independent company. Adamolekun led P.F. Chang’s for about three years before he stepped down in August 2023 to return to Paulson & Co. Inc. The 35-year-old is a Wall Street favorite.

I asked Fortress if RL Holdings has decided on a finance chief. A spokesperson said they have no comment regarding a CFO at this time. 

In general, companies emerging from bankruptcy seek a finance chief with “world-class stakeholder management” expertise, since the company is usually owned by a consortium of lenders, Jeff Constable, who leads Korn Ferry’s Financial Officers Practice in North America and co-leads it globally, told me. The CFO would also need to be adept in cash flow optimization and strong knowledge of the capital markets, he said.

Red Lobster was sold off by Darden Restaurants to Golden Gate Capital, a private equity firm, for $2.1 billion in 2014. Thai Union, a Bangkok-based seafood supplier, led an investment group that acquired the Red Lobster chain in 2020 and then got involved in day-to-day operations.

There’s been C-suite churn at Red Lobster since 2021. Jonathan Tibus, a restructuring advisor, has served as CEO since March, succeeding Horace Dawson, who served in the role for six months, before retiring. Dawson became CEO more than a year after Kelli Valade left in 2022 to become CEO at Denny’s, after serving as chief executive for about eight months. Valade replaced the brand’s longtime leader Kim Lopdrup after his retirement in August 2021.

David Schmidt joined Red Lobster as CFO in March 2022 and left the company in September 2022. I asked Red Lobster if the company appointed a new CFO after Schmidt’s departure, but I didn’t receive a response. Ludovic Garnier, Group CFO at Thai Union, has been reporting on Red Lobster’s financials during investor meetings.

A fateful shrimp promotion in 2023 has contributed to Red Lobster’s headwinds and financial woes since the pandemic. The company extended its Ultimate Endless Shrimp promotion, $20 per person, to an all-day, everyday event rather than on Mondays only. The restaurant saw a big loss in its third-quarter earnings. This change cost the company more than $11 million and cut into the profits of Thai Union profit. The price of endless shrimp was subsequently increased to $25. 

“We had been underestimating this one,” Garnier said during an investor presentation on Nov. 7. “That is why we had to adjust our prices.”

In January, Thai Union announced its intention to pursue an exit of its minority investment in Red Lobster “The combination of COVID-19 pandemic, sustained industry headwinds, higher interest rates and rising material and labor costs have impacted Red Lobster, resulting in prolonged negative financial contributions to Thai Union and its shareholders,” Thiraphong Chansiri, Thai Union Group’s CEO, said in a statement in January.

If he becomes Red Lobster’s CEO, Adamolekun will certainly have a lot on his plate.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

A special digital issue of Fortune

The best stories of July and August from Fortune, including a radical overhaul at a private equity titan, a crisis for the First Family of poultry, and more.

— KKR’s co-CEOs want to reach $1 trillion in assets by 2030. To do so, they’re willing to make big bets and leave the PE firm’s old ways behind. Read more.

— John Randal Tyson was set up to run his family’s $21 billion chicken empire. His erratic behavior could change that. Read more.

— Jeff Bezos’s famed management rules are slowly unraveling inside Amazon. Read more.

— A 25-year-old crypto whiz kid went from intern to president of Jump Trading’s crypto arm. Then he became the fall guy. Read more.

— An inside look at a secretive investment firm that counts some of the wealthiest Americans as clients and some of Silicon Valley’s most powerful figures as advisors. Read more.

— Can you quit Ozempic and stay thin? These startups say you can—but doctors say that’s an unproven claim. Read more.

Leaderboard

Kevan Parekh was promoted to CFO at Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Longtime CFO Luca Maestri will transition from his role on Jan. 1. Maestri will continue to lead the corporate services teams, including information systems and technology, information security, and real estate and development, reporting to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Parekh has been at Apple for 11 years. He currently serves as VP of financial planning and analysis. Before this role, Parekh led worldwide sales, retail, and marketing finance. He began his tenure leading the financial support of Apple’s product marketing, internet sales and services, and engineering teams.

Blake Johnson was named CFO at Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. (NYSE: GPMT), effective Dec. 1. Johnson will join the company no later than Oct. 28 as deputy CFO before assuming the CFO role. Current CFO Marcin Urbaszek has resigned to pursue a professional opportunity with a global financial institution. Johnson currently serves as acting chief accounting officer of Two Harbors Investment Corp. He was previously employed at Granite Point from the inception of the company’s business through 2020, most recently serving as the controller. 

Big Deal

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data has released its latest Survey of Consumer Expectations (SCE). The SCE provides insight into Americans’ views about job prospects and earnings growth and their expectations about future spending and access to credit.

Respondents are expecting lower earnings growth and a lower likelihood of finding a new job within three months if they're laid off. The mean probability of leaving one’s job voluntarily in the next 12 months increased by 0.2 percentage points to 20.7%, the measure’s highest reading since February 2023. Meanwhile, the average perceived probability of missing a minimum debt payment over the next three months increased by 1 percentage point to 13.3%, the measure’s highest reading since April 2020, according to the report. 

Going deeper

5 ways technology is impacting our lives right now, released by the World Economic Forum, highlights five key reports from the organization that explore emerging tech, responsible AI, aviation, digital jobs, and the space industry. 

Overheard

“While there may have been differences, we believe that everyone involved in the sale process is united in the belief that Paramount’s best days are ahead.”

—Edgar Bronfman Jr., executive chairman of streaming service Fubo and former CEO of Warner Music, told Paramount’s special committee of directors Monday night that he would not proceed with his bid to purchase the entertainment giant, the Associated Press reported. As a result, the merger between Paramount and media company Skydance is set to go ahead.