Domino’s names new CEO, signaling continued tech-driven pizza competition

Domino’s is changing CEOs, but not its basic playbook. Russell Weiner will retire this fall and become executive chairman, while chief operating officer and president Joe Jordan will take over as CEO on October 1 and join the board. For Pizza Hut drivers, cooks and managers, the bigger signal is continuity: one of the pizza industry’s most closely watched operators is keeping its focus on technology, franchisee support and execution rather than pausing for a reset.

Jordan has spent nearly 15 years at Domino’s working across marketing, operations, technology and franchisee support. The company said he helped oversee the relaunch of its loyalty and e-commerce platforms and played a role in major international expansion. Domino’s also said the transition was part of a multi-year succession planning process, underscoring that the handoff was designed to preserve momentum rather than disrupt it.

That matters in a pizza race that still runs on scale and speed. Domino’s said it finished fiscal 2025 with global retail sales growth of 5.4% and fourth-quarter global retail sales growth of 4.9%. The chain ended the year with more than 22,100 locations in over 90 markets worldwide. In QSR magazine’s 2025 ranking, Domino’s logged about $9.5 billion in U.S. systemwide sales and 7,014 U.S. units for 2024, well ahead of Pizza Hut’s roughly $5.5 billion in sales and 6,557 U.S. units.

For Pizza Hut, the message is not just about a rival’s boardroom. It is about a competitor that can keep pushing on the parts of the business that hit store-level work every day: digital ordering, loyalty, ticket times and franchisee support. A company with a successor already steeped in operations and technology is less likely to slow down, which means more pressure on Pizza Hut teams to keep app orders accurate, kitchens moving and delivery runs tight during rush periods.

Domino’s digital muscle is part of why this transition carries weight. Customer Experience Dive reported that Domino’s loyalty membership reached 35.7 million at the end of 2024, and the chain planned a revamped website and app in 2025. That kind of customer base gives a brand more room to test, tweak and retain regulars through its own platforms instead of relying only on price cuts.

Pizza Hut has been moving in a similar direction under Yum! Brands. Aaron Powell, the Pizza Hut Division CEO, oversees global growth strategies, franchise operations and performance, and Yum! has said Pizza Hut has been advancing digital and technology initiatives to improve the customer experience. Pizza Hut also relaunched Hut Rewards on April 21, 2026, as a membership program aimed at more value, exclusive access and new experiences.

The franchise structure makes the stakes feel local. More than 99% of Pizza Hut Division units were operated by franchisees at the end of 2024, which means competition with Domino’s lands on owners and managers who are balancing staffing, labor costs and delivery execution store by store. Domino’s leadership change suggests that the next round of pizza competition will still be won by systems, not slogans.