Outback Steakhouse Parent Company Names New CEO As It Struggles With Falling Stock Price

The parent company of the Outback Steakhouse restaurant chain announced a leadership change Monday as it struggles with a 35% slide in its stock price this year.

Mike Spanos will become CEO of Bloomin' Brands and join its board of directors on Sept. 3, the company said in a statement.

Spanos replaces David Deno, who announced his retirement in May after 12 years with Tampa, Florida-based Bloomin' Brands, including five as CEO and a board member.

Deno received total compensation of $6.8 million during the company's 2023 fiscal year, according to the AFL-CIO, which said the amount was nearly 300 times the median employee's annual pay.

Spanos was most recently the chief operating officer of Delta Airlines, where he held that position for about a year after earlier stints as CEO of Six Flags Entertainment and a top executive at PepsiCo.

In a statement, Bloomin' Brands Chairman Michael Mohan said Spanos "has a customer-first mindset for leading established organizations through challenging environments."

"We have found an ideal strategist, operations and cultural leader in Mike," Mohan said. "Our board believes that his experience operating complex, multi-unit businesses will benefit our iconic, founder-inspired brands."

In addition to Australian-themed Outback Steakhouse, Bloomin' Brands owns and operates Carraba's Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar, for a total of 1,450 restaurants in the U.S. and 13 countries.

Since last year, its share price has fallen from $28.15 to $18.18 on Friday.

It was trading around $17.40, down more than 4%, late Monday morning.