Dive Brief:
- Restaurant chain Jack in the Box appointed former Starbucks CFO Rachel Ruggieri to its board of directors as an independent director, according to a Monday press release. In association with Ruggeri’s move to the board, Michael Murphy will step down and will not stand for reelection during the 2027 annual meeting of stockholders, the company said Monday.
- Ruggieri’s appointment “continues the board’s refreshment efforts, which have added new perspectives and relevant restaurant, consumer and financial expertise” over the past year, the San Diego, California-based company said. Her appointment also highlights the chain’s commitment to “constructive dialogue with GreenWood Investors LLC,” Jack in the Box said in the Monday release — citing a cooperation agreement inked with Greenwood, a shareholder, last November.
- “The Company and GreenWood have agreed to extend their existing cooperation agreement, including customary standstill, voting and other provisions,” according to the release, which notes the amended agreement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Dive Insight:
Ruggieri brings “an exceptional combination of public company finance leadership and restaurant expertise,” interim CEO Mark King said in a statement included in the release.
A two-decade veteran of coffee chain Starbucks, Ruggieri served a four-year term as its EVP and CFO, stepping down from that role in March of 2025, according to her LinkedIn profile. During her tenure at the company, she held numerous roles including serving as senior vice president of finance for the Americas and SVP of finance, global retail. She also previously served two years as the top finance officer for Continental Mills.
Ruggeri’s appointment represents the latest executive leadership shift by Jack after it solidified its agreement with Greenwood in November 2025. With the agreement, Jack increased the size of its board to 10 members and added two new independent directors to its board, now interim CEO King and Alan Smolinisky, according to a release at the time.
It also agreed to form a capital allocation committee to be led by Smolinisky, which will “support the Board’s and management’s review of the Company’s significant strategic initiatives,” including its capital allocation priorities, asset portfolio, capital structure and “special capital structure,” according to an SEC filing at the time.
In May, Smolinsky was also appointed as lead independent director of the board and the business named King —who also serves as its independent board chair — as its interim CEO with the departure of Lance Tucker, according to a press release at the time.
Among other moves, the company has since reduced its board down to nine members, appointed another independent director in April, and tapped a new chief marketing officer.
Ruggeri’s board appointment, meanwhile, comes about a month after Jack in the Box named Yum Brands alum Taylor Montgomery to the role of president effective Sept. 14, with Montgomery set to assume the company’s CEO chair within the next 12 months — joining the board at that time, according to an August release.
The C-suite and board shuffles are occurring as the company seeks to reduce a trend of declining sales, pay down widening debt and improve its capital structure. The company’s financial struggles left the business in “survival mode” at the end of last year, with Jack in the Box selling off its Del Taco brand less than four years after acquiring it in a bid to right-size the business, according to a December 2025 report by CFO Dive sister publication Restaurant Dive.
In June of this year, Jack announced a plan to reduce its outstanding securitized debt to $1.5 billion, which will include repaying $110 million of its existing senior secured notes funded by a combination of cash on hand and excess funding from company-owned life insurance policy assets.
The business during its third quarter ended July 5 also completed the financing of $500 million of class A-2 notes with an anticipated repayment date of May 2031. For the quarter, Jack in the Box reported total long-term liabilities of about $2.4 billion, including about $1.4 billion in long-term debt, according to its Aug. 12 earnings release. The business reported net earnings of about $20 million, compared to about $22 million for the prior year period.
