Yum Brands announced Monday its CEO David Gibbs is using his $900,000 salary to pay out $1,000 bonuses to managers at the company's restaurants as a reward for working through the coronavirus pandemic.
His salary will fund one-time bonuses for close to 1,200 general managers at KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill locations. It will also pay for the Yum Brands Foundation Global Employee Medical Relief Fund.
The program will give financial hardship grants to company and franchise restaurant employees suffering from coronavirus and people who are treating people with the disease. The fund will also pay for "other frontline workers and those facing food insecurity," according to TheStreet.
"We can do things like we just did in the United States, which is providing a grace period for our franchisees on their royalties or suspend capital investments for them so they can have the cash to get through this crisis," Gibbs told CNBC.
To encourage its employees and franchisees, Yum Brands will also halt the $2 billion share buyback program it planned.
Similarly, Darden Restaurants CEO Gene Lee will also forgo his salary, as Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and other restaurants in the company's stable take a financial hit due to coronavirus-related dine-in restrictions.
Meanwhile, Cheesecake Factory CEO David Overton said he would cut his salary by 20%.
"We have over $1 billion of cash now. Certainly we're in a good position," he added. "But we want to take an abundance of caution as we manage through the challenges of this situation."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.