Ricardo Cardenas compensation by year
Darden Restaurants Summary Compensation Table · all 11 fiscal years held| Component | FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | FY2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salary | $474,539 | $560,000 | $613,750 | $687,019 | $685,817 | $745,192 | $795,673 | $1,000,000 | $1,082,692 | $1,265,385 | $1,325,000 |
| Bonus | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $690,538 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Stock awards | $359,917 | $896,981 | $923,122 | $1,142,285 | $1,174,393 | $1,240,596 | $1,846,328 | $4,252,311 | $6,807,950 | $8,103,687 | $25,879,154 |
| Option awards | $162,371 | $421,712 | $280,618 | $385,328 | $380,675 | $408,505 | $546,797 | $1,310,215 | $1,888,651 | $2,194,486 | $2,380,093 |
| Non-equity incentive | $530,046 | $546,560 | $745,707 | $989,307 | $0 | $1,058,173 | $1,193,510 | $1,590,000 | $1,753,962 | $1,898,077 | $4,107,501 |
| Pension and deferred compensation | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| All other | $144,690 | $132,592 | $219,200 | $222,794 | $272,942 | $304,487 | $326,974 | $347,503 | $471,172 | $534,236 | $1,124,230 |
| Total | $1,671,563 | $2,557,845 | $2,782,397 | $3,426,733 | $3,204,365 | $3,756,954 | $4,709,282 | $8,500,029 | $12,004,427 | $13,995,870 | $34,815,979 |
Each year as stated in that year's proxy. A dash means the company reported no figure in that column. Source: Darden Restaurants, Inc. DEF 14A filed August 10, 2026, accession 0001193125-26-342023, and prior-year filings. Open the filing on EDGAR.
How this page was built: the Darden Restaurants, Inc. filed document, accession 0001193125-26-342023. Every figure is read from that document and cited to the page and table it appears in. Filed August 10, 2026.
Equity holdings
unvested awards at FY2026 year-end| Type | Unvested units | Value at year-end | Exercise price |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSU | 179,413 | $36,584,105 | — |
| RSU | 38,662 | $7,883,568 | — |
| Option | 18,097 | — | $121.47 |
| Option | 48,995 | — | $139.43 |
| Option | 33,993 | — | $169.02 |
| Option | 33,011 | — | $208.51 |
Per the Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End table in Darden Restaurants, Inc.'s FY2026 proxy; value at the fiscal year-end close, as the company printed it.
Change-in-control & termination
estimated payments Darden Restaurants discloses, by trigger · FY2025| Trigger | Cash severance | Accelerated equity | Benefits continuation | Total as disclosed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voluntary resignation | — | $33,146,416 | $120,121 | $35,407,568 |
| Involuntary termination without cause | $1,300,000 | $33,146,416 | $139,039 | $36,726,486 |
| Involuntary for cause | — | $0 | $120,121 | $2,261,152 |
| Change in control and involuntary termination | $6,500,000 | $33,146,416 | $158,985 | $41,946,432 |
| Death | — | $33,146,416 | — | — |
| Disability | $1,663,904 | $33,146,416 | $203,028 | $37,154,379 |
Per the Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control table in Darden Restaurants, Inc.'s FY2025 proxy. Estimates as the company printed them; a dash means it printed no figure.
Darden Restaurants’s named executive officers, FY2026
as the company reported each| Named executive officer | Role | FY2026 total |
|---|---|---|
| Ricardo Cardenas · this page | President and Chief Executive Officer | $34,815,979 |
| Rajesh Vennam | Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer | $5,462,639 |
| M. John Martin | Group President | $4,098,775 |
| Todd Burrowes | Group President and President, Chuy's | $4,092,658 |
| Matthew Broad | Former Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Corporate Secretary | $3,248,581 |
| Sarah King | Senior Vice President, Chief People Officer | $3,241,140 |
Board service
Darden Restaurants board · FY2022–FY2026How this board is paid
Company policy: Darden Restaurants pays directors a $100,000 cash retainer and $185,000 in RSUs. As stated in Darden Restaurants's FY2026 proxy.
The full Darden Restaurants compensation record
free company briefThis page is one person within Darden Restaurants's record. The company brief lists every named executive, each linking to their own page.
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named in the Darden Restaurants proxy · each links to its own free briefCompensation, the day it’s disclosed
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How this record is built
Every figure on this page is one figure from a public SEC filing, printed as the filing states it and cited to the document. Compensation totals are Darden Restaurants's own disclosed totals, not summed by Velarion. Insider transactions are read from Form 4 filings and cover every line filed since the most recent proxy. Nothing is estimated by Velarion; where the company does not disclose a value the cell reads "—", and a section appears only where the company discloses the data. Corrections: records@velarion.ai.
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