Wendy's CEO Aims for Chain to Get Back in the Burger Fight -- WSJ

By Heather Haddon

Bob Wright knows his mission: Get Wendy's back on its feet.

Since taking the helm as Wendy's chief executive in May, Wright has been unsparing in his assessment of the burger chain's challenges. He has told franchisees and investors that the company has shortchanged ingredient quality for cost savings, that service has become uneven and that Wendy's depends too much on deals.

Those factors contributed to Wendy's losing its No. 2 spot among the biggest burger chains in terms of U.S. sales, Wright said. Burger King recaptured the position after revamping its Whopper sandwich and upgrading restaurants.

Wendy's is rolling out a five-point strategy tackling food quality and value, operations, store upgrades, marketing and digital sales. Wright is remaking his leadership team, and said a former McDonald's executive, Tariq Hassan, had entered the newly created role of chief marketing and customer growth officer. The company's existing U.S. marketing chief will depart in the coming weeks.

"We certainly have inconsistent operations," Wright, 58 years old, said. "We have some areas that we can focus on there."

Wright, a former CEO of Potbelly who previously held leadership roles at Wendy's, said the company's fate rests in the success of its restaurant operators, who have been feeling pinched in recent years.

The new CEO is also navigating relations with Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management, a longtime company shareholder with board representation that has spoken to potential investors about strategic options, including potentially taking Wendy's private.

WSJ: Why did Wendy's slip from second to third among the big U.S. burger chains?

WRIGHT: We have made some decisions around quality that were rooted in efficiency and cost savings. We have let our value equation erode. While we have good systems and good execution, there's an opportunity to really bring that back.

WSJ: Are you looking to remake your products like Burger King and McDonald's?

WRIGHT: We need to rebuild our menu and do so at the ingredient level, at the item level, at the menu-category level. Hamburgers, chicken, salads-those are the primary categories for us. And desserts led by our Frosty. Each of those core categories have to bring strength for our menu.

WSJ: How are you re-evaluating deals and discounts?

WRIGHT: We had become over-reliant on promotional activity and everyday-value strategies. Our barbell strategy had gotten uneven. You're going to hear us focus on the core menu first, because that's where you deliver intrinsic value for the customer.

WSJ: What's your view on opening and closing locations?

WRIGHT: We have grown new units and we're going to continue to build new units. We have closed more than we've opened here over the last 12 months. I expect we'll have a few more, but you're going to see us use closures as a tool where a franchisee needs a little bit of help creating some health in their portfolio of their restaurants.

WSJ: How do you want Tariq Hassan to rethink marketing?

WRIGHT: Our branding and marketing must deliver demand. There's challenges in the areas of messaging, creative and even how we deploy the media itself. We have a budget that's in the hundreds of millions of dollars. His track record not only at McDonald's but also at the other brands that he's led is very strong for exactly what we need.

WSJ: What have your conversations been like with Trian?

WRIGHT: I've had discussions with everybody on our board. I'm proud that we have a great deal of strategic alignment. This is an open dialogue around diagnosing the situation we are in and what it will take to move forward. I won't comment on conversations with individual board members, but I'm happy to report that alignment exists.

Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 24, 2026 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT)