In a brief 8-k filing with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Papa Johns International announced that the company’s current chief operating officer and executive vice president, Max Wetzel, is leaving the company. Wetzel is resigning effective March 17 to join another unspecified company as CEO, less than one year after his May 2022 appointment.
Wetzel has been with Papa Johns since Nov. 2019, when he joined the company as a chief commercial and marketing officer. He was promoted to executive vice president in Oct. 2021 and took on the role of chief operating officer of the Lexington, Ky.-based pizza chain in May 2022 following the departure of former COO Jim Norberg.
During his time with the company, Wetzel oversaw and helped to facilitate the comeback of Papa Johns, which reported record-breaking sales during the pandemic, despite a dip last quarter while the company battled some macroeconomic challenges.
While there is no news yet on where Wetzel will be heading or who will be his replacement, there are not many open CEO positions within the restaurant industry. Likely more information will be revealed during the company’s next quarterly earnings call at the end of the month.
Papa Johns has a total of 5,589 restaurants systemwide, as of Sept. 25, 2022.
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