Kent Taylor, CEO of Texas Roadhouse, Dead at 65

Kent Taylor, CEO of Texas Roadhouse, Dead at 65.

Founder and CEO of Texas Roadhouse Kent Taylor died on March 18.

Greg Moore, lead director of Texas Roadhouse, confirmed Taylor’s death in a statement.

.

We are deeply saddened by the loss of Kent Taylor.

He founded Texas Roadhouse and dedicated himself to building it into a legendary experience for 'Roadies' and restaurant guests alike, Greg Moore, via ‘People’.

Moore went on to praise Taylor for his selflessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He gave up his entire compensation package to help support his frontline workers.

This selfless act was no surprise to anyone who knew Kent and his strong belief in servant leadership.

He was without a doubt, a people-first leader, Greg Moore, via ‘People’.

In addition to donating his salary and bonus, which totaled more than $800,000, Taylor bought protective gear for all his employees.

Employees at 537 Texas Roadhouse locations in the United States received latex gloves, masks and eyewear.

.

Taylor also contributed $5 million of his own money to an emergency fund he created nearly 10 years ago for his workers.

The fund, called Andy’s Outreach, helps cover mortgage payments, rent, utility bills and funeral expenses.

.

I'm 64 years old and I call people under 55 kids.

So I have 70,000 kids, and you want to take care of them … I relate it to my own personal family and I want to take care of my family, is how I look at it, Kent Taylor, to ‘People’ (2020)