---
title: "After 29 years, Yum! Brands' Chairman David Novak to retire"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/863ea957-9958-4560-a292-987c87480277
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/after-29-years-yum-brands-chairman-david-novak-to-retire-3257
category: "Restaurants"
industry: "Restaurants"
topics: ["Finance & M&A"]
published: 2016-01-06T20:15:27.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T13:22:57.029Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/59ae767d9291e88e5aad699ccbe032d6633160106153127.png
---

# After 29 years, Yum! Brands' Chairman David Novak to retire

**TL;DR:** Yum! Brands' Chairman David Novak will retire in May 2016 after 29 years with the company. Novak has been with the quick-service brand operator for 29 years and has led the company to significant growth and expansion.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2016-01-06. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/after-29-years-yum-brands-chairman-david-novak-to-retire-3257).*

## Story

Yeterday, Yum! Brands, Inc., announced that David C. Novak, the company’s Executive Chairman and former Chief Executive Officer, plans to retire in May 2016. Novak has been with the quick-service brand operator for 29 years.

His announcement comes after the Yum! Brands announced plans to split into two companies—one that operates its three brands KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, and another that operates restaurants in those brands in China.

“I feel deeply privileged to have served over the years as Yum! Brands chairman and CEO," Novak said in a statement. “As we target the separation of our China business by the end of 2016 and transition to two powerful, independent companies, it is a perfect time for me to complete my retirement.”

According to an article in Nation’s Restaurant News, Novak started his career at PepsiCo in 1986 as chief marketing officer for the Pizza Hut division. He ultimately became chief operating officer for Pepsi-Cola and then CEO of KFC US. He held several positions with the company before PepsiCo spun off the restaurant brands in 1997, and Novak was president and vice chairman.

Novak was later promoted as the Yum! Brands CEO in 1999 and eventually named chairman in 2000. He became executive chairman when he stepped down as CEO on Jan. 1, 2015. Over that time, Yum grew into a global restaurant behemoth with 41,000 locations in 125 countries and revenues of more than $13 billion.

The end of Novak’s tenure with Yum! Brands is marked by several notable achievements: He helped the company expand its vast footprint in new emerging markets, and he assisted the company in becoming the category leader in China and deliver high return on invested capital. Under his management, the brand also saw its market capitalization grow from $4.6 billion to approximately $31 billion.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- Taco Bell (company)
- KFC (company)
- Pizza Hut (company)
- Yum Brands (company)
- leadership transition (topic)
- PepsiCo (company)
- executive retirement (topic)
- company split (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/after-29-years-yum-brands-chairman-david-novak-to-retire-3257). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/863ea957-9958-4560-a292-987c87480277).