Sarah Spiegel has been named interim CEO of CKE Restaurants Holdings, parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, following the departure of Max Wetzel, who has joined Tropical Smoothie Café as its CEO.
Spiegel is a managing director of Roark Capital, the private equity firm that is CKE’s parent company. She joined Roark in 2019 and is a member of its investment committee and is on the board of directors of GoTo Foods (formerly Focus Brands), and Nothing Bundt Cakes as well as CKE.
Prior to joining Roark she was CEO of Coffee & Bagel Brands, parent company of Einstein Bros. Bagels, Caribou Coffee, Bruegger’s Bagels, Noah’s New York Bagels, and Manhattan Bagel Company. She joined that company in 2015 as president of Einstein.
Before that she was executive vice president in Bain Capital’s Portfolio Group, partnering with the leadership of various consumer and retail brands including Bloomin’ Brands, Dunkin’ Brands and Michaels Arts & Crafts, according to Roark.
She also worked as director of strategy at The Lego Group in Billund, Denmark, and started her career at consulting firm McKinsey & Co. in Washington, D.C.
She holds an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University.
She now oversees sister burger chains Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, which combined have around 2,700 locations. They are headquartered in Franklin, Tenn.
Wetzel joined CKE as CEO in March 2023.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
