Moran was added as co-chief in 2009 to split duties with Ells, but that structure had become "over-complicated," according to Ells.
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He never made a public move against Ells, but people familiar with the matter said Ackman was closely involved in Ells' decision to step aside.
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Panera Bread CEO Ron Shaich is firing back at Steve Ells, the CEO of Chipotle, after Ells accused Panera of misleading customers with claims of "clean" food.
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Ells opened up his first location in Denver in July 1993 after remodeling an ice cream store near the University of Denver campus, Ells said in a promotional video.
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Co-CEOs Steve Ells and Monty Moran faced pressure from investors to restore customer confidence, but by the end of the year, they wanted Ells, who founded the company, to resume solo leadership.
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Ells will become executive chairman once the transition is complete.
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Since then, Ells stepped down as CEO in November 2017.
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Mr. Ells himself has drawn investor scrutiny over his compensation.
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Tasty Made is not Ells' first venture into other food genres.
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"These relatively simple changes are making a big difference," Ells said.
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Brands (YUM)-owned Taco Bell to take over for Steve Ells.
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Founder Steve Ells resigned from the position but remains executive chairman.
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Ells and two others are leading the search, the company said.
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" Ells told Business Insider's Kate Taylor this week that Panera shouldn't use the word "clean" to describe its menu, since some of its food still contains natural flavors, which Ells referred to as an "industrial ingredient.
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"I'm not saying that we won't add breakfast [one day]," said Ells.
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"I'm old friends with Steve [Ells, CEO of Chipotle]," Shaich told CNBC.
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Mr. Moran, a school friend of Mr. Ells, took home similar amounts.
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Mr. Ells said Mr. Moran's departure was not at Pershing Square's behest.
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Mr. Ells said the company would announce changes to the board shortly.
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On Tuesday, Ells said Chipotle is "making good progress" in its search.
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While there were some concerns that Niccol would have to compete with Steve Ells, the ex-CEO and founder of the company, who has remained with Chipotle as executive chairman, Ells did not speak during the earnings call.
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In 1993, classically trained chef Steve Ells brought an Americanized version to diners.
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Mr. Ells is part of the search committee formed to find his replacement.
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Mr. Ells said he planned to change the incentives for employees who excel.
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KATE ROGERS: You also took over for a founder CEO in Steve Ells.
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On Tuesday, Ells said that Chipotle is "making good progress" in its search.
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"I'm sorry for the people who got sick," Ells said on the Today Show.
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The former Denver home of Chipotle founder Steve Ells is officially on the market.
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Ells said the company's been doubling down on emphasizing food safety rules in response.
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On the committee are directors Robin Hickenlooper and Ali Namvar, as well as Ells.
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Niccol became CEO about a year ago, replacing Chipotle founder and chairman Steve Ells.
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Ells told Reuters that Chipotle would soon name a few new directors, declining to elaborate.
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It also abandoned its dual CEO structure and named Steve Ells the sole chief executive.
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"The fourth quarter of 2015 was the most challenging period in Chipotle's history," Ells said.
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The next new addition will be a dessert, according to Chipotle co-CEO Steve Ells.
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Combining Moran's operational experience and Ells entrepreneurial spirit helped bolster Chipotle for nearly a decade.
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"While the restaurant was closed, multiple teams performed complete sanitization of all surfaces," Ells said.
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"Early fast food burger restaurants generally had focused menus," CEO Steve Ells said in a statement.
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"2016 will be a very difficult year," co-Chief Executive Steve Ells said in a statement.
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According to Ells, these changes — which have already been put in place — are improving restaurant operations.
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The company expects to make an announcement shortly about a new slate of board members, Ells said.
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But when Moran left under pressure in December, it made Ells the sole target of investors' unhappiness.
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Ells continued to open new restaurants, using capital, at first, from his father and small business loans.
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Ells resumed full leadership of Chipotle, with Moran retiring from the company and vacating his board seat.
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Once the search for a new CEO is complete, Ells said he will focus primarily on innovation.
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Ells is also on the committee and recruitment firm Spencer Stuart will assist in the search efforts.
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It's going to happen from time to time, but Ells gets more than anyone I've ever seen.
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The vocabulary in the New York Times videos is so rich that it is perfect for ELLs.
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Ells and Moran were co-chief executives from January 2009 until last December, when Moran stepped down.
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Among the bigger winners in this group was Steve Ells, the chief executive of Chipotle Mexican Grill.
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Chipotle hired former Taco Bell CEO Brian Niccol in February to replace founder Steve Ells as CEO.
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Now, Ells has decided that the restaurateur program is at least partially to blame for Chipotle's difficulties.
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Ells said on Thursday Chipotle attracted millions of new or lapsed customers in the second half of 2016.
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Consumers are finicky with their food, so who knows how Chipotle will recover in 2017, as Ells predicted.
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Ells said the company is currently testing two desserts and will soon roll out one of them nationally.
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Ells also said he isn't ruling out serving breakfast — something that customers have been asking Chipotle to do.
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Ells also wrote an open letter owning the massive food safety issues and outlining a plan moving forward.
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Even Steve Ells, the company's founder and co-chief executive, said he thought the company would rebound faster.
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"This was going to be one restaurant," Ells said on NPR's "How I Built This" podcast in October.
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Mr. Ells, who said last year that he would step down as chief executive, will become executive chairman.
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A new norovirus outbreak and lackluster launch of 'queso' dip earlier this year only amplified concerns about Ells' leadership.
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In 2015, Ells and Moran realized a combined $154.4 million from exercising stock options, according to Chipotle's proxy statement.
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In an earnings call with investors on Tuesday, founder Steve Ells detailed some of the fast food chain's goals.
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Founder and co-Chief Executive Steve Ells boldly pledged in December to make Chipotle the safest place to eat.
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They want an independent chairman at the company, where founder Steve Ells serves as both chairman and chief executive.
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"I have confidence that we're going to recover from this," said co-CEO Steve Ells, during a conference presentation.
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"We are actively exploring ways to enhance the guest experience by offering new additions to our menu," Ells said.
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Ells noted during an earnings conference all on Tuesday that same-stores comp sales were up 11 percent since January.
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"Bringing in a new CEO is the right thing to do for all our stakeholders," Ells said in a statement.
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"We think there's great strength in that original fast-food model," CMG Group CEO Steve Ells said in a statement.
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"We believe someone was working while sick," Chief Executive Steve Ells said on a conference call with analysts on Tuesday.
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Under pressure from investors, Chipotle recently removed co-Chief Executive Monty Moran and again made founder Steve Ells sole CEO.
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The following year, the company restructured its executive team, promoting Chief Operating Officer Monty Moran as co-CEO alongside Ells.
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Ells founded the restaurant chain in 1993, and has since played multiple roles, serving as co-CEO at one point.
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Ells will remain with the company as executive chairman and plans to oversee innovation once a new CEO is selected.
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Brian Niccol, the chief executive of Taco Bell, will replace Chipotle's founder Steve Ells as chief executive on March 5.
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Ells said that the company would be focusing on operational changes, digital innovation and restaurant renovations to enhance guest experience.
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Niccol officially takes the reins on March 5, replacing company founder Steve Ells, who is now the company's executive chairman.
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Ells is set to step down from his position as CEO as soon as the company finds a suitable replacement.
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"A few years ago, we began to add what we now know was unnecessary complexity to our business," Ells said.
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"This has been an unfortunate set of events," Steve Ells, the company's founder and co-chief executive, said during the call.
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Steve Ells, the company's founder and co-CEO, called the new menu item "very popular" and a "favorite protein" of customers.
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Past guests have included Ben & Jerry's founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, fashion designer Eileen Fisher and Chipotle founder Steve Ells.
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He anticipates Ells could return to the role in as little as 24 months once the brand gets back on track.
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Mr. Ells started the company in Denver in 1993 and helped position it at the vanguard of the fast-casual movement.
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Ells, who was also in the school's production of Lady, Be Good with Bell, shared what their experience was like together.
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Chipotle Mexican Grill – The restaurant chain named Taco Bell Chief Executive Brian Niccol as its new CEO, replacing founder Steve Ells.
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CEO Steve Ells said the company would be focusing on operational changes, digital innovation and restaurant renovations to enhance guest experience.
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But I guess given their problems they need to hit the leader on this," Shaich said, calling Ells' remarks "personally offensive.
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Scary enough to spur Chipotle founder and chief executive Steve Ells into issuing a public apology on national TV earlier this month.
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Ells said the company is "exploring strategic alternatives" for exiting the ShopHouse locations and will not be making additional investments in it.
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Dessert.According to Eater, Ells says the chain is currently testing two new desserts to join their menu of burritos, bowls, and tacos.
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Following the food-safety lapses, which battered the company's shares, Chipotle abandoned its dual-CEO structure and named Ells the sole CEO.
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Chipotle CEO Steve Ells claimed this week that the most recent incident originated with a sick employee at the Sterling, Virginia store.
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Chipotle's CEO and founder, Steve Ells, says chains such as McDonald's and Panera Bread are misleading customers with claims of "clean" food.
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Whatever Chipotle does, it will not compromise on quality, according to Mr. Ells, who will remain at the company as executive chairman.
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Ells said the beleaguered burrito chain is taking a careful look at existing directors, with an eye toward what can be strengthened.
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"Prior to the crisis, we would have maybe six, seven or eight changes to our operational protocols a year," Mr. Ells said.
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It's a question Chipotle founder and CEO Steve Ells should take to heart in light of the chain's latest outbreak of illness.
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"The fourth quarter of 2015 was the most challenging period in Chipotle's history," co-Chief Executive Steve Ells said in a statement.
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Co-CEO Steve Ells said, reported ABC, that early fast-food burger chains had "focused menus," which is what Chipotle hopes to emulate.
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"We are also working aggressively to continue to attract and convert more new and lapsed customers," Ells said on a post-earnings call.
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"Schools here invest more energy in motivation than in achievement," Ruut Veenhoven, a professor of happiness at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, ells me.
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Chipotle said in a filing that it was not only "appropriate but also important" for Ells to serve as both chairman and CEO.
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Chipotle founder and co-CEO Steve Ells,was paid $13,8 million, 52 percent less than the previous year, according to a regulatory filing.
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Chipotle CEO Steve Ells spoke at an investor conference last week, promising to pour in more marketing dollars to win back customers trust.
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"We made it clear to the entire company that we have a zero-tolerance policy," Ells told investors in a call on Tuesday.
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"Chipotle was wildly successful and I thought, 'well, let me open one more,'" Ells said in a video posted on Chipotle's YouTube page.
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Over the course of about seven years, the Golden Arches poured more than $22016 million into the company, allowing Ells to expand further.
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On Wednesday, the burrito chain said that it's begun to search for a new chief executive, with Ells stepping down from the post.
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CEO Steve Ells announced in late November that he will step down from the position as soon as a suitable replacement is found.
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Ells and Moran have been leading the company's efforts to reassure customers and last month laid out their program to improve restaurant safety.
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The restaurant chain tapped the former head of Taco Bell to be its leader in February, replacing Chipotle founder and chairman Steve Ells.
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Mr. Ells's co-chief executive, Montgomery F. Moran, relinquished his position in 2016, and Mr. Ells has been criticized for his hefty compensation.
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Ells' pay dropped from $28.9 million to $13.8 million and Moran's dropped to $13.6 million from $28.1 million, according to a regulatory filing.
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"That means even the ingredients they sell to other companies will be safe — and that's good for everybody, not just Chipotle," Mr. Ells said.
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"After operating in three diverse markets, we have determined ShopHouse hasn't demonstrated an attractive unit economic model," Ells said on an earnings call Tuesday.
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"While we are on the road to recovery, we are not satisfied," Steve Ells, CEO of Chipotle, said during a conference call on Tuesday.
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In corporate news, Chipotle Mexican Grill said it has begun searching for a new CEO, with current Chief Executive Steve Ells becoming executive chairman.
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Chipotle Mexican Grill announced Wednesday it's begun to search for a new CEO, with current Chief Executive and Founder Steve Ells becoming executive chairman.
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How much autonomy the new executive would have, however, remains a question since Ells will still be in charge of its board, said Allen.
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"His expertise in digital technologies, restaurant operations and branding make him a perfect fit for Chipotle," Ells said in a statement announcing Niccol's appointment.
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Brian Niccol, the chief executive of Taco Bell, will replace Chipotle's founder, Steve Ells, as chief executive on March 5, Chipotle said on Tuesday.
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Steve Ells, the company's founder and chief executive, told analysts on a conference call this month that adding menu items at Chipotle was tricky.
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Company founder and co-Chief Executive Steve Ells on March 16 estimated that 5 percent to 7 percent of infrequent customers may never return.
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Ells also said that of chorizo has accounted for 6 to 7 percent of entree sales for the restaurant since it launched in late June.
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Chipotle Mexican Grill dipped 1.4 percent in premarket trading after the burrito chain announced its co-founder Steve Ells would step down as chief executive.
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Following the food-safety lapses, which have battered the company's shares, Chipotle abandoned its dual-CEO structure and named Steve Ells the sole chief executive.
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For one, founder and CEO Steve Ells announced that the burrito giant plans to double the free food it's giving away in the coming year.
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Crumpacker's resignation, effective March 15, comes a month after Chipotle hired Taco Bell head Brian Niccol as its new chief executive replacing founder Steve Ells.
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Chipotle Mexican Grill's Steve Ells is stepping down as CEO and it could be just what the company needs to finally cement a solid turnaround.
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CEO Steve Ells said the company planned to slow down new restaurant openings for 693 to 18 months so it can "get the fundamentals right".
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"While we are continuing to make progress, it is clear that we need to move faster to make improvements," Mr. Ells said in a statement.
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"We all agreed that one C.E.O. will serve the company better," Steve Ells, Chipotle's founder and other co-chief executive, said in a telephone interview.
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However, some analysts have worried that Ells will not be able to distance himself from the post and will cause conflict with any incoming CEO.
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Just as Steve Ells Chipotle-ized the burrito, so he tried to Chipotle-ize Southeast Asian food after a two-week trip through the region.
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In November, founder and Chief Executive Steve Ells said he would step aside after failing for two years to rescue sales and the company's reputation.
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"In the coming months, you will see the return to the kind of restaurant operations Chipotle was known for from the very beginning," Ells said.
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"We are pleased to see that July sales comp trends have already improved to 200 to 300 basis points," Chairman and co-CEO Steve Ells said.
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"I'm not satisfied with the rate of recovery and the quality of the restaurant experience," co-CEO Steve Ells told investors at a conference on Tuesday.
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Chipotle director Ali Namvar, a partner at Pershing Square, joins fellow board members Robin Hickenlooper and Ells himself in overseeing the search for Chipotle's new CEO.
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In November, founder and Chief Executive Officer Steve Ells said he would step aside after failing for two years to rescue sales and the company's reputation.
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Prior to these incidents, Ells and Moran were already under fire for their high compensation packages, with the pair making nearly $50 million combined in 2014.
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Founder and co-Chief Executive Steve Ells' total compensation fell 52 percent to $13.8 million, from a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.
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Mr. Ells, who started the company in Denver in 1993 and now oversees more than 2,350 restaurants, will become executive chairman once his successor is found.
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One of those items, queso, will be sold in two additional markets in August, Steve Ells, CEO of Chipotle, said during the company's earnings conference call.
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"We conducted a thorough investigation, and it revealed that our leadership there didn't strictly adhere to our company protocols," CEO Steve Ells said during the call.
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"I think that Steve Ells and the folks at Chipotle have had more than their fair share of problems," Shaich told Business Insider in an interview.
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Promotion within the restaurateur program was once based on 27 measures, most of which, according to Ells, had no relationship to the customer or restaurant operations.
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"People will come back," Steve Ells, the company's founder and co-chief executive, told more than 50,000 employees, who were connected to Chipotle's Denver headquarters via video.
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"Returning to our roots of what originally made Chipotle great has helped refocus all of our strategies toward the guest experience," Ells said in a statement Thursday.
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Under its previous strategy, employees were rewarded for how well they performed against 27 measures — most of which were not related to serving the customer, Ells said.
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Chipotle's shares fell in extended trading after the company reported a 76.5 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit, but pared most of their losses after Ells' comments.
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"But [it] is an absolutely critical, important next chapter for Chipotle, which has been struggling to recover sales under Ells," Scott wrote in a research note Wednesday.
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Analysts said Chipotle was likely to seek a chief executive with more operational savvy than Mr. Ells could provide, especially in a difficult competitive environment for restaurants.
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"We conducted a thorough investigation, and it revealed that our leadership there didn't strictly adhere to our company protocols," then-CEO Steve Ells admitted at the time.
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Ells noted during the conference call that the company has eaten a lot of the labor and food cost increases and that its menu pricing has lagged behind.
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The burrito chain is searching for a new CEO to replace its founder and chief executive Steve Ells, who announced in November that he would be stepping down.
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The first is tied to Chipotle's new CEO, Brian Niccol, who replaced former CEO and founder Steve Ells last year after six years running Yum Brands' Taco Bell.
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"Of our last 24 years, there's no doubt the last two have been extremely challenging," said Ells, referring to the drop in business that began in late 2015.
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CtW and Amalgamated Bank in November filed a shareholder resolution seeking an independent chairman at the company, where founder Steve Ells serves as both chairman and chief executive.
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Chipotle Mexican Grill founder Steve Ells has stepped down from the chain's board and relinquished his title of executive chairman after current CEO Brian Niccol was named chairman.
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The chain is still searching for a new CEO to replace Ells, who has been alone at the helm since co-CEO Monty Moran was ousted in 2016.
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Under its previous strategy, employees were rewarded for how well they performed against 27 measures — most of which were not related to serving the customer, Ells said at ICR.
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Ells, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, believed that "fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods" could be used in a fast food setting.
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Earlier this February, Founder and former CEO Steve Ells said the company is considering "salads with different kinds of grains," as well as "traditional things" like nachos and quesadillas.
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The company also ousted its former co-CEO Marty Moran, leaving founder and CEO Steve Ells at the helm, which Hartung said reflected the fast-casual chain's changing outlook.
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Chipotle announced Wednesday that Steve Ells, who founded the burrito chain in 1993, will step down as CEO once they find a new leader to replace him, per CNBC.
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"This degree enables our employees to apply what they learn in the classroom to their work at Chipotle and vice versa," Steve Ells, Chipotle's CEO, said in a statement.
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"I know by dedicating ourselves to bringing back operational excellence, we're going to get a lot of customers back," Chief Executive Steve Ells told analysts and investors on Tuesday.
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"Part of the thing that was so devastating was because there were multiple incidents, and so it may have looked like we were out of control," Mr. Ells said.
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Adding new blood to the board has long been a key demand for CtW, and it proposed in November to replace Ells, the company's chairman, with an independent director.
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Even as his company's revenues fell 13 percent and its shares declined by 21 percent, Mr. Ells snared a 13 percent increase in pay, receiving $15.7 million in 2016.
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"Our focus this year will be to continue perfecting the dining experience, enhancing the guest experience through innovations in digital and catering, and reinvesting in our restaurants," Ells said.
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"Since restaurateur was the holy grail, and these tools were the only way to be a restaurateur, all of our teams' energy was focused on these tools," said Ells.
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"We returned to profitability, and saw a modest improvement in comp sales trends in the second quarter," Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, said in a statement.
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"We're going to slow down just a little bit, but this is a temporary slowdown for 23 to 219.6 months," founder and Chief Executive Steve Ells said in an interview.
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Such issues largely came under Mr. Moran's supervision, but will now fall to Mr. Ells, a self-described perfectionist who founded Chipotle in 1993 with a loan from his father.
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The company has long given stock to general managers who achieve what it calls "restaurateur" status, but Mr. Ells said that program had become increasingly complicated and would be streamlined.
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Chipotle&aposs shares had dropped more than 60% from their peak in August 2015 to November 2017, when then-CEO Ells announced the company was seeking a new top executive.
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But on Friday, when asked about Chipotle's recent jabs, Panera CEO Ron Shaich told CNBC he was friendly with Chipotle CEO Steve Ells and had worked with him in the past.
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"Our results for the quarter clearly show that there's still work to be done to restore strong growth and customer trust," CEO Steve Ells said during an earnings conference call Tuesday.
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In December, Ells said the company gave half of its roughly 2,100 locations a C grade for service because of flaws like messy soda stations, dirty tables, and slow-moving lines.
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Onions, jalapeños and other vegetables that arrive in the restaurant whole are being blanched in boiling water to kill microbes, and raw meat is being handled differently, Mr. Ells told the analysts.
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Mark Kalinowski, an analyst with Instinet, reduced his EPS estimates for the fourth quarter to 95 cents from $1.30 and its full-year 2016 estimates to $1.46 from $1.91 following Ells' comments.
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He replaced Chipotle founder Steve Ells, who failed to put Chipotle back on track following outbreaks of E.coli, Salmonella and norovirus in 2015 that sickened hundreds of U.S. customers and crushed sales.
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Steve Ells and Montgomery Moran of Chipotle earned $13.8 million and $13.6 million, respectively, while their company was plagued with food safety problems and lost 30 percent of its stock market value.
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He took the helm of Chipotle after its founder, Steve Ells, stepped down as CEO as the chain struggled to move on from food safety issues that sickened hundreds of its customers.
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"Brian has proven that he is absolutely the right person to lead Chipotle forward and I've never been more confident about the future of this great company," Ells said in a statement.
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"We have gone to all our suppliers, especially suppliers that have high-risk items like meat and produce, and implemented high-resolution DNA testing as laid out by Dr. Samadpour," Mr. Ells said.
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"I think the sales the first day were probably $240 or something like that, and the next day, a little bit more, and the next day, a little bit more," Ells told NPR.
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Jeremy Scott, senior research analyst at Mizuho Securities, called the decision "unexpected," particularly after the company recently streamlined the CEO position from two co-CEOs, a post Ells had shared with Monty Moran.
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Chipotle Mexican Grill said on Wednesday that it was looking for a new leader "with demonstrated turnaround expertise" to replace Steve Ells, the current chief executive and founder of the fast casual chain.
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"Brian is a proven world-class executive, who will bring fresh energy and leadership to drive excellence across every aspect of our business," current CEO and founder Steve Ells said in a statement.
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Paull and Steve Ells, who founded Chipotle and returned to the role of sole CEO this week, worked together under the McDonald's umbrella until 2006, when the burger giant spun off the burrito seller.
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Nix, whose primary investor is Steve Ells, the founder of Chipotle Mexican Grill, presents Mr. Truman with a gamble: He's trying his hand at hospitality without one of Mr. Balazs's properties as an anchor.
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HOUSE REPUBLICANS INVESITGATING OBAMA-ERA URANIUM DEAL John Tamny: I think any time you give the federal government say in whom a business ells to by definition you&aposre going to have crony capitalism.
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Co-CEO Steve Ells unveiled the Chipotle Local Grower Support Initiative which commits $10 million to helping local producers provide the Mexican food chain with ingredients that meet the company's new food safety standards.
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Chipotle Mexican Grill – The restaurant chain's shares were downgraded to "market perform" from "outperform" at William Blair, which cites uncertainty stemming from the announcement that CEO and founder Steve Ells will be stepping down.
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"Despite several unusual impacts during the quarter, including the impact of hurricanes, we maintained our focus and saw some encouraging signs," said Steve Ells, founder, Chairman and CEO of Chipotle, in a press release.
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"Steve Ells was able to position Chipotle to be a trailblazer in its category, but he kept reaching into that same bag of historical experience and philosophy when ultimately that's not what's needed now."
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Steve Ells, the chain's founder and Mr. Niccol's predecessor as chief executive, apologized on the "Today" show, and the company hired a new food safety officer who instituted a wide range of health precautions.
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Behind the scenes, Chipotle executives were meeting with a man who seemed, on paper at least, to be the polar opposite of Culinary Institute of America graduate Ells: Taco Bell&aposs CEO, Brian Niccol.
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CEO Steve Ells slammed Chipotle's restaurateur program as "highly inefficient" on Tuesday at the ICR Conference in Orlando, Florida, as he revealed plans to remake the system to be focused more on the customer.
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Background: Niccol took over Chipotle's top job from founder Steve Ells in 2018 after leading a product renaissance at Taco Bell with a new focus on the company's late-night menu and social media branding.
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Ells may not live there anymore — the burrito magnate sold the home back in 2008 for $3.5 million — but his influence can still be seen all over the property, particularly in the well-appointed kitchens.
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"The new degree program extends a series of education benefits we've been putting in place over the last couple of years to help better equip our employees for success at Chipotle and beyond," Ells said.
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"The decision of Steve Ells to step down as CEO is the inevitable consequence of Chipotle's inability to get to grips with its various problems," Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, told CNBC via email.
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"Over the last few months, we have been implementing an enhanced food safety plan that will establish Chipotle as an industry leader in food safety," said Steve Ells, co-CEO of Chipotle, in a statement.
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The letter to Ackman from CtW, a Chipotle shareholder, came one day after the ompany's chief executive and founder, Steve Ells, confirmed that the chain is in talks with the investor about refreshing the board.
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To start, Ells said that the company is launching a "dedicated centralized training program" in Denver that will combine classroom and in-store training to improve consistency and speed of service as well as hospitality.
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"If you care for your ingredients properly, package them nicely and keep them at the right temperature, you don't need to have these preservatives," Steve Ells, Chipotle founder and chief executive, told the Wall Street Journal.
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While Ells was still keen on opening his full-service restaurant, the demand at Chipotle continued to grow and a year and a half after opening his first restaurant, he opened a second one in Denver.
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From more than 200 interviews with entrepreneurs like LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, Chipotle's Steve Ells, and Gilt Groupe's Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkins, Wilkinson has determined six essential skills that drive success across all industries and circumstances.
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Ells became sole CEO after co-CEO Monty Moran departed in December 2016, under pressure from hedge fund manager William Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management LP is Chipotle's largest investor with a 10 percent stake.
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"It's not like you can put a whole new thing up on the menu board and — like at a typical fast-food place," said Mr. Ells, who will yield his post to Mr. Niccol next month.
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"Chipotle has enjoyed extraordinary success for most of our 23-year history, and it is important to us that we structure the company to enjoy similar success in the future," CEO Steve Ells said in a statement.
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After what CEO Steve Ells called the "most challenging [year] we've ever faced in our 23-year history," sales at the chain's established stores turned positive in December for the first month in more than a year.
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After what CEO Steve Ells called the "most challenging [year] we've ever faced in our 73-year history," sales at the chain's established stores turned positive in December for the first month in more than a year.
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"While it has only been a few weeks since Chiptopia (loyalty program) launched, we are pleased to see that July sales comp trends have already improved by 933 to 300 basis points," Co-CEO Steve Ells said.
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"As our sales are on a gradual path to recovery, we remain focused on our mission of changing the way people think about and eat fast food," Steve Ells, co-CEO of Chipotle, said in a statement.
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"We think we can appeal to peoples' timeless love of burgers, but in a way that is consistent with our long-term vision," Chipotle founder and co-CEO Steve Ells said in a statement released to CNN.
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"Since we opened the first Chipotle 23 years ago, our menu has changed very little, and our focus has been on constantly improving the quality and taste of the food we serve," Ells said in a statement.
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Amalgamated Bank and CtW Investment Group, both of which have previously sparred with Chipotle, filed a shareholder resolution on Tuesday to strip board leadership from Ells, who is also co-chief executive, by instituting an independent chair.
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Ells said in November he would step aside after failing for two years to rescue the burrito chain's sales and reputation, and he told investors recently he would not get in the way of a new CEO.
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LOS ANGELES, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc expects to make an announcement shortly about a new slate of board members, Steve Ells, the burrito chain's co-chief executive, said at an investor conference on Tuesday.
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In an effort to turn the company around, CEO Steve Ells said in November that he would be stepping down from his post as head of the company as soon as Chipotle found someone to replace him.
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"Although queso was the number one requested menu item, we never added it to our menu before now because we wouldn't use the industrial additives used in most quesos," Steve Ells, Chipotle's CEO said in a statement Tuesday.
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CtW Investment Group, one of Chipotle's smallest but most vocal investors, urged Ackman this week to use his muscle to convince Ells to step down as board chairman and replace at least two sitting directors with independent board members.
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Twenty-four years after founding Chipotle and growing the original Denver store into a national chain, popularizing the fast-casual segment of fast food in the US, Steve Ells is stepping down as CEO, the company announced on Wednesday.
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Co-CEO Steve Ells said it's likely the company will never know the culprit behind the cases, but Chipotle has taken out full-page apology ads in newspapers across the country and pledged to change its food safety protocols.
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"His expertise in digital technologies, restaurant operations and branding make him a perfect fit for Chipotle as we seek to enhance our customer experience, drive sales growth and make our brand more relevant," Mr. Ells said in a statement.
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"Over the second half of 2016 we attracted millions of new or lapsed customers and we are pleased with the rate that these new customers are converting from new or lapsed to regular customers," Ells said on the conference call Thursday.
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"As our sales are on a gradual path to recovery, we remain focused on our mission of changing the way people think about and eat fast food," said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, in a prepared statement.
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CEO Steve Ells said that the company is ditching its Asian food concept ShopHouse in favor of driving menu innovation at its namesake division and bolstering its pizza business, Pizzeria Locale, and its soon-to-open Tasty Made burger chain.
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"I am incredibly proud of Chipotle and our people — and grateful to our loyal customers — and while we are continuing to make progress, it is clear that we need to move faster to make improvements," Ells said in a statement.
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Chipotle looks for a CEO With a year of health scandals including E. coli and rodents, the chain's founder, Steve Ells, will give up the CEO role and become executive chairman once a new CEO is hired to replace him.
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"It is unfortunate that anyone became ill after visiting our restaurant, and when we learned of this issue, we took aggressive action to correct the problem and protect our customers," Chipotle Chief Executive Officer Steve Ells said in a statement.
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"We're also seeing higher guest satisfaction in the restaurants that have the new, second make-line, and we've seen further reduction in guest wait times to under 15 minutes as we continue to optimize our smarter pick up times," Ells said.
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"We have always been proud of our ability to attract and retain top talent who share our passion for cooking delicious food by hand and creating an extraordinary guest experience," Steve Ells, the company's chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
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"During 2017, we have made considerable changes around leadership, operations, and long-term planning and it is clear that, while there is still work to be done, we are starting to see some success," CEO Steve Ells said in a statement.
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"Delivery, digital ordering, the Chipotlelane where you can pick [orders] up now in your car — that all happens on a separate line," said Niccol, the former Taco Bell chief who took over as Chipotle head from founder Steve Ells in 2018.
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"In the upcoming year we intend to continue to simplify and improve our restaurant operations, utilize creative marketing to rebuild our brand, and further the roll-out of our digital sales efforts," Steve Ells, man CEO of Chipotle, said in a statement.
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"It seems extremely likely (Pershing Square) played an important role in convincing Ells to step down," said Rich Clayton, research director at CtW Investment Group, an investor in Chipotle that has sparred with the company over lavish executive pay and lax corporate governance.
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"The reaction to chorizo in the cities that have had it has been overwhelmingly positive, so we're making it available in all of our restaurants across the country," Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, said in a statement on Monday.
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"I've been on a quest for a better tasting tortilla for years, and we finally achieved a tortilla made the way you would make them at home, and they are simply delicious," Steve Ells, CEO of Chipotle said in a statement Tuesday.
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Researchers have found that large science achievement gaps occur within the U.S. These gaps are very large by middle school, and they are disproportionately experienced by children who are racial or ethnic minorities, English Language Learners (ELLs) and those from lower-income families.
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"We have always been proud of our ability to attract and retain top talent who share our passion for cooking delicious food by hand and creating an extraordinary guest experience," Steve Ells, the company's chairman and CEO, said in a statement: http://bit.ly/2EPinls.
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I didn't know the word ORIELS or the connection to "oilers" besides it being an anagram; and I'm still not sure why the answer to 23A's "July 3rd and April 5th" is ELLS, although I'm sure I'll kick myself when you explain it to me.
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In January, the chief executive was hit with a 15 percent cut, bringing his valued compensation down from $10.3 million to $8.7 million, says the AP. In 2015, Chipotle's co-CEOs, Steve Ells and Monty Moran, saw their total compensation slashed by almost half, says .
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It also posted a video clip on Periscope of Mr. Ells announcing a $10 million program to help small farmers who are Chipotle suppliers shoulder the costs of putting in place the company's new food safety system, which will require them to do more rigorous testing.
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Hedge fund manager William Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management LP is Chipotle's largest investor with a 10 percent stake, soured on Ells, failing to mention him at all in a recent investor letter that complimented other Chipotle top executives after praising him only months before.
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BOSTON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two union-affiliated shareholders in Chipotle Mexican Grill on Tuesday said they would propose replacing the company's chairman, Steve Ells, who founded Chipotle, with an independent director, piling on pressure after well-known activist Bill Ackman took a large stake in the company.
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Ells, however, does not see it as including "natural flavors," which he took shots at his competitors for using after his chain announced on Tuesday that it was the first national restaurant brand with no added colors, flavors, or preservatives of any kind on its food menu.
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We "need to reassure our customers that this can't happen again, and that we are going to reduce the risk of this kind of an outbreak from occurring again to near zero," Chipotle founder and co-Chief Executive Steve Ells said at the ICR Conference in Orlando, Florida.
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"The fourth quarter of 2015 was the most challenging period in Chipotle's history, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has now concluded its investigation into the recent E. coli incidents associated with Chipotle," Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, said in a statement.
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Ells doesn't want anything on Chipotle's menu that customers can't immediately identify as something they could pick up themselves at the supermarket (Humectants are ingredients added to maintain foods' textures.) Panera Bread told Business Insider that it was working to use more "whole" ingredients instead of natural flavors.
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Failla also rejected claims that founder and Chief Executive Steve Ells, former Co-Chief Executive Monty Moran and Chief Financial Officer John Hartung intended to commit fraud by making "highly suspicious" sales of more than $210 million of Chipotle stock in the three months before the first outbreak.
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Niccol, 22016 and head of Yum Brand's Taco Bell since 210, on March 24 will replace Chipotle founder Steve Ells, who built the chain on the idea that food could be both healthy and fast but failed to nail the operational prowess needed to guide it through several health scares.
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"In our opinion, with Ells remaining involved in setting the vision for the food/concept (including oversight of how to execute the food experience within the restaurants), the addition of a complementary leader who can bring fresh perspective in the effort to strengthen core operating and brand fundamentals can prove to be a major long-term positive for the company," David Tarantino, analyst at Baird, wrote in a research note Wednesday.
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"Our sales comps effectively reached their low in mid-January, and in a matter of six weeks we have cut the impact to sales comps nearly in half, from negative 40 percent at the low point in mid-January down to about negative 20 percent in the first week of March," Chipotle Chairman and co-CEO Steve Ells said last month at an investor conference sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
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Fans of Mr. Browne's clothes include not just fashion people like Andrew Bolton, his partner and the curator in charge of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Solange Knowles, who wore a Thom Browne puffer tuxedo to the last Met Gala, but also LeBron James; Steve Ells, the chief executive of Chipotle; Laurene Powell Jobs; Michelle Obama; and Janis Leigh, the chief human resources officer for Hudson's Bay Company.
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