Krispy Kreme named Josh Charlesworth as CEO effective Jan. 1, succeeding Michael Tattersfield, who has held the role since 2017.
The Charlotte-based company has seen annual revenue growth from $550 million in 2016 to an expected $1.6 billion this year. Tattersfield, who moved the company’s headquarters from Winston-Salem to Charlotte four years ago, will remain a board member and senior adviser. It has reported net losses of more than $155 million in the past five years.
“We celebrate the transformation of Krispy Kreme under Mike’s leadership, as it grew from a complex, multi-product primarily-U.S. model to a more global, capital efficient hub-and- spoke omni-channel model, focused on delivering fresh, awesome doughnuts, all while nearly doubling the adjusted EBITDA of the business,” Chairman Olivier Goudet said in a release. “Mike re-ignited the iconic Krispy Kreme magic.”
Charlesworth has been the company’s chief financial officer and global president as well as chief operating officer.
Shares in Krispy Kreme were trading for about $12.80 on Monday afternoon. The company went public in July 2021 for $17 per share, raising about $500 million when the IPO market was particularly strong. It has consistently traded at lower levels since then.
Vernon Rudolph founded the iconic North Carolina company in Winston-Salem in 1937. It initially went public in 2000, then was acquired in 2016 by German investment firm JAB in 2016. JAB still holds a 44.5% stake, while Chicago-based private equity group BDT Capital Partners owns 8.4%, according to the company’s 2023 proxy.
Tattersfield holds 2.57 million shares, while Charlesworth has about 448,000, according to the proxy. Tattersfield, who is in his late 50s, was CEO of Caribou Coffee and Einstein’s Bagels before joining Krispy Kreme in 2017. He had total compensation of $2.1 million in 2022 after receiving $23.6 million in the previous year, largely because of stock awards, stock options and a $4.5 million “settlement of IPO in cash” award, according to the proxy.
Krispy Kreme says it now sells half of its 1.6 billion doughnuts annually in more than 30 nations outside of the United States. It is expanding into Paris later this year. The company is also expanding its Insomnia Cookies chain. It employs more than 20,000 people.
Charlesworth, a graduate of the London School of Economics, worked for Mars and Wrigley before joining Krispy Kreme in 2017.
