New Leadership Set to Take Over Whataburger After CEO Retirement

Whataburger is a true Texas original. The burger chain got its start in Corpus Christi in 1950 and quickly grew a loyal fanbase since that time. It's been half a decade since Whataburger sold to BDT Capital Partners to expand their burger goodness to other parts of the country. The Dobson family no longer owns Whataburger, but a great group of CEOs has lead the burger chain in its current growth. A new CEO is set to take the reins in 2025 with a background at McDonald's and Starbucks.

Ed Nelson

Ed Nelson is the current CEO of Whataburger and has held the position since 2020. His time at Whataburger started in 2004 as Controller. After just four years in that position, he was promoted to Chief Financial Officer. In 2019, Nelson moved up to President followed by taking the chair of CEO in 2020. Since that time, Nelson has helped Whataburger expand into 16 states with a combined total of 250 stores. On September 3, he announced that he is retiring at the end of 2024.

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With the announcement of Nelson's retirement, that means that a new CEO will take the reins of Whataburger. That new CEO will be Debbie Stroud. Currently, Stroud is EVP and Chief Operating Officer of Whataburger, a role she's held since 2023. Her experience covers over three decades in the restaurant and retail space. 27 of those years were at McDonald's in various financial and other operational roles. Before her time at Whataburger, she spent five years at Starbucks as their SVP of U.S Retail Operations (prnewswire.com).

What does this leadership change mean for Whataburger?

I don't believe we're going to see any major changes. So no, Starbucks coffee and McNuggets won't become a regular part of the menu any time soon. We will see more expansion across the country with a ton of new fans for the Texas founded burger giant. We may see some new restaurant experiments like the Digital Kitchen that is open in Austin. Other than that, we'll still be able to get our number five with a large fry and Dr Pepper for dinner.