Clarence Otis Jr, CEO of Darden Restaurants, Inc.


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Each week tens of thousands of diners eat at an Olive Garden or Red Lobster restaurant. Few of these diners know that the CEO heading these large restaurant chains is a black man.

Clarence Otis Jr. Is the CEO of Darden Restaurants Inc., the largest casual dining operator in the nation. The firm operates nearly 1,400 company-owned restaurants coast to coast serving 300 million meals annually. Darden employs 150,000 workers and has annual revenues of $6 billion.


Born in Vicksburg , Mississippi , Otis moved to Los Angeles when he was 6 years old. His father was a high school dropout who worked as a janitor. The family lived in Watts at the time of the 1965 riots. In the post-Watts period, Otis recalls being stopped and questioned by police several times a year because of the color of his skin.

A high school guidance counselor recommended him for a scholarship at Williams College , The highly selective liberal arts institution in Massachusetts . Otis graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams and went on to earn a law degree at Stanford. Otis landed on Wall Street as a merger and acquisitions attorney for J.P. Morgan Securities. He joined Darden Restaurants in 1995 as corporate treasurer. He became CEO in 2004.


3 responses to “Clarence Otis Jr, CEO of Darden Restaurants, Inc.”

  1. Mr. Darden,
    As a fellow Vicksburger, I am most proud of your accomplishments
    and business acumen.Regretfully many don’t realize how devastating
    ObamaCare is to business, healthcare, freedom, and the economy.
    I commend and encourage your strong stand against tyranny.
    Sincerely,
    Al Lassiter, Colonel, USAF(Ret.)

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