David Gibbs is giving his salary to his general managers.
The CEO of Yum Brands is not taking a salary this year, according to a federal securities filing Monday, opting instead to use the funds to pay out $1,000 bonuses to general managers at company-operated Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC units.
Yum operates about 1,200 of its restaurants, or roughly 2% of the system.
The company is also making a donation to the Yum Brands Foundation Global Employee Medical Relief Fund, which will provide grants to employees of company and franchisee restaurants who have a COVID-19 diagnosis or are caring for someone with the virus.
The company said it plans to increase the size of the fund through voluntary donations.
Gibbs, who took over for Greg Creed as CEO of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum Brands at the beginning of the year, was set to make about $900,000 base salary. Base salaries for executives tend to be a fraction of their overall compensation package, which often include bonuses and stock options.
In 2018, for instance, Creed made a base salary of $1.2 million and received overall compensation of $14 million.
Still, Gibbs became the latest chief executive to either cut or eliminate their salary as companies furlough workers, close stores or put together rescue packages for franchisees. The chief executives of Darden Restaurants and Texas Roadhouse, for instance, have said they won’t take a salary this year.
Yum and its franchisees have closed about 7,000 global restaurants. The company is working with operators’ lenders to help them through the coronavirus shutdown and is considering breaks on royalties to those franchisees in good standing.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.