Lawrence Kim

About Lawrence Kim

Lawrence Y. Kim is 48 and has served as President of IHOP since January 2025. Before joining Dine Brands, he was Chief Innovation Officer at Yum! Brands (Aug 2021–Oct 2024) and held VP roles in brand strategy and marketing at Taco Bell (Jul 2019–Nov 2020; Nov 2020–Aug 2021) . For context on the operating backdrop he inherited, Dine Brands reported 2024 revenues of $812.3 million and consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $239.8 million, while the 2022–2024 cash LTIP paid 0% on relative TSR (18.2nd percentile) .

Past Roles

Fixed Compensation

No specific base salary, target bonus, or fixed pay elements for Lawrence Kim are disclosed in the 2025 proxy or 8‑K filings reviewed. Skip if not disclosed.

Performance Compensation

IHOP President annual incentive design (reference: 2024 program for the IHOP Business Unit leader):

• Metrics and weightings used for the role included Dine Brands Adjusted EBITDA (25%), IHOP Business Unit Adjusted EBITDA (25%), IHOP same-restaurant sales (15%), IHOP net development (20%), and Dine Brands traffic (15%) .
• 2024 metric targets and actual outcomes (company-reported), with payouts calculated per the plan:

*Adjusted by the Compensation Committee to exclude a $7.3 million contribution to Applebee’s national advertising fund for bonus calculation purposes .
**Traffic inputs were excluded due to competitive sensitivity .

Vesting: Annual cash incentives are paid after year-end based on actual performance; no multi-year vesting applies .

Long-term incentives (company design): Annual RSAs vest in equal thirds over three years; NQSOs vest in equal thirds over three years and have ten-year terms; cash LTIP pays 0–200% of target based on three-year relative TSR .

Equity Ownership & Alignment

Employment Terms

• Appointment: Became President, IHOP in January 2025; listed as an executive officer in the 2025 proxy .
• Clawback: Company maintains a Dodd‑Frank/NYSE-compliant clawback policy applicable to current and former executive officers for erroneously awarded incentive compensation upon a restatement .
• Change-in-control and severance framework: Executives covered by the Amended and Restated Executive Severance and Change in Control Policy receive severance (12–24 months base plus bonus), benefit continuation, and accelerated vesting terms (double-trigger) with performance awards generally settled at actual performance through CIC; policy amended Feb 19, 2025 to settle performance awards at target upon qualifying termination within 24 months after CIC. Kim’s participation status is not specifically disclosed .
• Equity plan terms: Minimum one-year vesting on awards (subject to limited exceptions), no option repricing without shareholder approval, and TSR-based performance awards administered under the 2019 Stock Incentive Plan .

Performance & Track Record

• IHOP franchisee engagement: As IHOP President, Kim publicly recognized 2024 Franchisee of the Year Susan Mendenhall, emphasizing operational excellence and guest experience at the brand’s 2025 Global Franchisee Conference .
• Company performance context: 2024 total revenues $812.3 million; consolidated adjusted EBITDA $239.8 million; company-wide annual incentive payouts for 2024 averaged ~37–39% of target across Dine Brands/Applebee’s/IHOP NEOs; 2022–2024 cash LTIP paid 0% on relative TSR .

Compensation Structure Analysis

• Emphasis on pay for performance: Annual incentives tie to adjusted EBITDA, same-restaurant sales, net development, and traffic; multi-year cash LTIP ties to relative TSR, which did not pay for the last three cycles (2020–2022, 2021–2023, 2022–2024), highlighting performance risk in variable pay .
• Governance features: Double-trigger CIC vesting, clawback policy, prohibition on hedging/pledging, and no option repricing strengthen alignment and risk control .

Investment Implications

• Alignment: Kim’s beneficial ownership of 50,255 shares with no exercisable options and no pledged shares suggests equity alignment without near-term option exercise pressure; annual RSAs typically vest over three years, which supports retention and alignment .
• Incentive risk/reward: The role’s bonus framework rewards IHOP EBITDA and same-restaurant sales/net development—metrics that were challenged in 2024—while the TSR-linked LTIP has paid 0% in recent cycles, indicating meaningful at-risk pay and sensitivity to execution and market-relative performance .
• Policy backstop: Strong clawback, double-trigger CIC terms, and hedging/pledging prohibitions reduce governance risk; however, Kim’s specific severance participation is not disclosed, a minor information gap for full retention-risk assessment .
• Near-term focus: Franchisee engagement and operational initiatives under Kim’s leadership are critical as IHOP navigates traffic and development targets embedded in incentive design; monitoring same-restaurant sales, IHOP BU EBITDA, and net development progress remains key to assessing incentive realizability .