Laura Williamson
DARDEN RESTAURANTSAbout Laura Williamson
Laura Williamson is President of LongHorn Steakhouse at Darden Restaurants and has held this role since May 2024. She is 56 years old and has served in senior finance leadership roles across LongHorn and Olive Garden since 2014, after joining Darden in 1997 and holding earlier roles at Red Lobster and corporate finance/strategy at Darden . Under Darden’s fiscal 2025 framework, the company delivered $8.88 diluted net EPS, 2.0% same-restaurant sales growth (ex-Chuy’s and Ruth’s), and 11.3% TSR (defined as EPS growth plus dividend yield) for the year, while LongHorn posted 5.5% same-restaurant sales growth in Q1 FY26 alongside higher sales and segment profit year over year .
Company performance context (oldest → newest):
| Metric | FY 2024 | FY 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Diluted net EPS ($) | 8.53 | 8.88 |
| Same-restaurant sales growth (%) | 1.6% | 2.0% |
| Total Shareholder Return (company definition) | — | 11.3% |
LongHorn brand performance (Q1 FY26 vs prior year):
| Metric | Q1 FY2025 | Q1 FY2026 |
|---|---|---|
| LongHorn Sales ($mm) | 713.5 | 776.4 |
| LongHorn Segment Profit ($mm) | 128.4 | 134.9 |
| Metric | Q1 FY2026 |
|---|---|
| LongHorn same-restaurant sales growth (%) | 5.5% |
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact / scope (as disclosed) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darden Restaurants | President, LongHorn Steakhouse | May 2024–present | Brand leadership |
| Olive Garden | SVP Finance | Apr 2023–May 2024 | Brand finance leadership |
| LongHorn Steakhouse | SVP Finance | 2014–2023 | Brand finance leadership |
| Darden Restaurants (Corporate) | Director of Finance & Strategy; Director of Corporate Analysis; Sr. Director of Finance (Olive Garden) | (prior to 2014; not all dates specified) | Enterprise/brand finance and strategy roles |
| Red Lobster | Analyst → Sr. Analyst → Manager → Director | 8 years (dates not specified) | Progressive analytics/finance leadership at former Darden brand |
| Darden Restaurants | Joined as Supervisor of Sales Cash | 1997 | Early career entry at Darden |
External Roles
No external public-company directorships or committee roles are disclosed for Ms. Williamson in Darden’s executive officer biographies reviewed .
Fixed Compensation
- Individual base salary and cash compensation for Ms. Williamson are not disclosed (she is not listed among FY2025 Named Executive Officers with detailed pay tables) .
- Program structure relevant to brand leaders (context): Darden’s annual incentive plan design uses separate metrics for Darden corporate vs. specific brands; brand programs are weighted 70% Operating Income and 30% same-restaurant sales, with a single-year performance period and payout range 0%–200% of target .
Annual incentive metric design (FY2025):
| Participant group | Metric | Weight | Period/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darden corporate (CEO/CFO and corporate participants) | Adjusted Diluted Net EPS | 70% | One-year FY2025; payout 0%–200% |
| Darden corporate | Same-restaurant sales growth | 30% | One-year FY2025 |
| Brand leaders (specific brands) | Brand Operating Income | 70% | One-year FY2025; specific brand scorecards |
| Brand leaders (specific brands) | Brand same-restaurant sales growth | 30% | One-year FY2025 |
FY2025 certified company results for context:
| Metric (Darden consolidated) | Target | Result | Company rating (% of target) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adjusted Diluted Net EPS | $9.48 | $9.55 | 100% |
| Same-restaurant sales growth | 1.9% | 2.0% | 100% |
| Total | — | — | 100% |
Note: Olive Garden and Specialty Restaurant Group brand scorecards are disclosed (100% and 34% of target, respectively), but LongHorn’s FY2025 brand scorecard is not disclosed; only Q1 FY26 LongHorn SRS and segment metrics are available .
Performance Compensation
Long-term incentives (program design; applies to executives and NEOs; no individual grant detail disclosed for Ms. Williamson):
| Award type | Target mix | Performance measure | Vesting | Max payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performance Stock Units (PSUs) | 50% | 3-year relative TSR vs S&P 500 | 50% vests at year 3; 50% at year 4 | 200% |
| Stock Options | 25% | — (service) | 50% vests at year 3; 50% at year 4; 10-year term | — |
| Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) | 25% | — (service) | 100% vests at year 3 | — |
- PSU performance calibration example: FY2023–FY2025 PSU cycle certified at the 84th percentile (200% payout) for NEOs, illustrating pay-performance linkage on TSR; Ms. Williamson’s individual PSU results are not disclosed .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Hedging/pledging: Darden prohibits short sales, hedging, and pledging of company stock by officers and directors; insiders are also prohibited from holding Darden securities in margin accounts .
- Stock ownership guidelines: Robust guidelines with mandatory holding until achieved; CEOs at 6x salary and other NEOs at 4x, monitored by the Compensation Committee. Officers must hold 50% of net after-tax shares until reaching required ownership levels; individual status for Ms. Williamson is not disclosed .
- Insider transactions/pledging: No Form 4 transactions or share pledging for Ms. Williamson were disclosed in the reviewed proxy and filings; hedging/pledging is prohibited by policy .
Employment Terms
- Employment agreements: Darden discloses that it does not have employment agreements with its Named Executive Officers; no individual employment agreement for Ms. Williamson is disclosed .
- Change-in-control: All NEOs are party to change-in-control agreements providing 1.5x–2.0x salary+target bonus if terminated within 24 months of a change in control (double trigger); no CIC agreement is disclosed for Ms. Williamson .
- Clawback: Darden maintains a clawback policy requiring recovery of incentive-based compensation after a financial restatement, applicable to current and former executive officers; covers annual incentives and PSUs for the prior three fiscal years .
- Insider trading: The company’s insider trading policy restricts trading while in possession of MNPI and governs transactions by officers and directors .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance alignment: Brand leader incentives are tied to brand Operating Income (70%) and same-restaurant sales (30%), directly linking payouts to operational execution and topline health at the brand level (reducing risk of misaligned growth or over-reliance on price/mix) . Darden’s consolidated FY2025 scorecard paid at 100% of target, reflecting balanced delivery vs. plan .
- Retention dynamics: Multi-year LTI vesting (3–4 years), with 50% PSUs on relative TSR, encourages retention and shareholder alignment. Combined with prohibited hedging/pledging and robust ownership/holding requirements, this structure typically lowers near-term insider selling pressure and strengthens alignment over time .
- Execution and margin risk: Beef inflation and pricing posture present potential near-term margin pressure, as management noted careful pricing and near-term commodity pressure even as they protect guest value—relevant to LongHorn’s cost basket . Nonetheless, LongHorn delivered a 5.5% SRS in Q1 FY26 with year-over-year increases in sales and segment profit, indicating positive momentum under current leadership .
- Governance signals: No individual employment agreement disclosed, and CIC agreements explicitly limited to NEOs; robust clawback and anti-hedging/pledging policies. Say-on-pay support was strong (approximately 95.17% at the 2024 annual meeting), suggesting broad investor acceptance of program design .