Chipotle Names CEO

Chipotle Mexican Grill (Newport Beach, Calif.) has scratched the “Interim” from Scott Boatwright’s title. Prior to being named Interim CEO in August with the exit of Brian Niccol to the top job at Starbucks, Boatwright served as COO since 2017.

Scott Boatwright. Photo: Courtesy of Chipotle Mexican Grill

“We conducted a thorough and rigorous external search process that confirmed Scott is absolutely the best person to lead the next stage of growth at Chipotle,” said Scott Maw, Chipotle’s board chairman. “Today’s announcement is an affirmation of both Scott’s leadership capability and our internal succession planning process. The board overwhelmingly believes Scott will deliver on the key strategies in place and position the company for continued success.”

Said Boatwright: “… I am passionate about our menu and energized by our people, and believe that I, along with our esteemed bench of tenured leaders, will deliver on our priorities and achieve our long-term growth goals.”

Prior to Chipotle, Boatwright spent 18 years with Arby’s Restaurant Group in various leadership positions. He last served as SVP of Operations, responsible for more than 1700 of the chain’s restaurants.

The company Boatwright now runs has more than 3600 restaurants and 125,000-plus employees.