According to Fortune, Red Lobster has emerged from bankruptcy under the leadership of CEO Damola Adamolekun, a Nigerian-born, 36-year-old former Goldman Sachs investment banker who took over the struggling seafood chain in late 2024 and declared on his first day that this would be the greatest comeback in the history of the restaurant industry.
This is not his first turnaround. Adamolekun was the first Black CEO of P.F. Chang’s, taking the role in 2020 at just 31 years old during the height of the COVID pandemic. He had actually pitched the investment idea to Paulson & Co. himself, which led directly to their $700 million acquisition of the chain in 2019 and his eventual appointment as CEO. He then guided P.F. Chang’s through the worst period in restaurant industry history, grew annual revenues to $1 billion, and launched P.F. Chang’s To Go which significantly expanded their delivery business. He stepped down in 2023 having returned the brand to full profitability. Red Lobster is a different level of challenge entirely.
He inherited a disaster. Red Lobster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2024 after a catastrophic Endless Shrimp promotion collapsed under unexpectedly high demand, costing the company tens of millions. The company had churned through six CEOs in three years, closed more than 100 locations, and lost over 43% of its customer traffic. When Adamolekun walked in, skeptics openly questioned whether the chain had any future at all.
His strategy was precise. He cut deadweight locations, invested $60 million in refurbishing existing restaurants, streamlined the menu, brought back a limited-time version of Endless Shrimp at a viable price point, and began integrating AI across operations to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Red Lobster now expects positive net income in fiscal 2026 and projects 43% EBITDA growth by 2027.
Source: Fortune
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