Steve Ells (born September 12, 1965) is an American businessman. He is the founder, former chief executive officer, and former executive chairman of

Chipotle Mexican Grill Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. ( ), often known simply as Chipotle, is an American multinational chain of fast casual restaurants specializing in bowls, tacos, and Mission burritos made to order in front of the customer. As of March 31, 2025, C ...

. Ells founded Chipotle in 1993, and under his direction, the chain serves what it describes as "naturally raised meat" and promotes

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is agriculture, farming in sustainability, sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an ...

. On November 29, 2017, Chipotle announced Ells' resignation as CEO, pending the search for a new CEO with "turnaround expertise". Ells served as executive chairman following the appointment of a new CEO, and served on the CEO search committee. Brian Niccol became CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill in February 2018. On March 6, 2020, Ells resigned as chairman and left the board of directors, breaking his final ties to the company.

Early life

Ells was born in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

on September 12, 1965, the son of a pharmaceutical executive. He attended

Boulder High School Boulder High School is a high school in Boulder, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Boulder Valley School District. Boulder High School was founded in 1875 as a preparatory school to the University of Colorado. In 1876, it was the first ...

and the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...

where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History and became a member of the

Delta Chi Delta Chi () is an international collegiate social fraternity. It was formed in 1890 at Cornell University as a professional fraternity for law students, becoming a social fraternity in 1922. In 1929. Delta Chi became one of the first internat ...

fraternity. Ells later enrolled at the

Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singapore. The college, which was the first to ...

Hyde Park, New York Hyde Park is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States, bordering the Hudson River north of Poughkeepsie. Within the town are the hamlets of Hyde Park, East Park, Staatsburg, and Haviland. Hyde Park is known as the hometown of Fra ...

, graduating in 1990.

Career

Ells served for two years as a

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command of a kitchen, ranking directly below the head chef in the Kitchen Brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier. In large kitchens, sous-chefs are typically left in charge of managing members o ...

under

Jeremiah Tower Jeremiah Tower (born 1942) is an American celebrity chef who, along with Alice Waters and Wolfgang Puck, has been credited with pioneering the culinary style known as California cuisine. A food lover from childhood, he had no formal culinary ed ...

at Stars restaurant in San Francisco prior to launching Chipotle. Ells opened a Chipotle themed taco store in Denver, Colorado near the University of Denver campus using $85,000 borrowed from his family and friends. Ells served as CEO of the chain from 1993 until 2009, when he split co-CEO duties with Monty Moran. Ells returned as sole CEO on December 12, 2016, upon Moran's retirement. In 2007, Ells received the CEO of the Year Award from ''ColoradoBiz'' magazine. He formerly sat on the board of directors of the

Land Institute The Land Institute is an American nonprofit research, education, and policy organization dedicated to sustainable agriculture, based in Salina, Kansas. Their goal is to develop an agricultural system based on perennial crops that "has the ecolo ...

. In 2010, Ells joined the judging and investment panel on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's series '' America's Next Great Restaurant'' alongside

Bobby Flay Robert William "Bobby" Flay (born December 10, 1964) is an American celebrity chef, food writer, restaurateur, and Television presenter, television personality. Flay is the owner and Chef de cuisine, executive chef of several restaurants and fr ...

Curtis Stone Curtis Travis Stone (born 4 November 1975) is an Australian celebrity chef, author, and television personality. Stone has been the fresh food and recipes ambassador for Coles Supermarkets in Australia since 2010. Early life Stone was born ...

and

Lorena Garcia Lorena Garcia is a Venezuelan chef who has opened multiple restaurants and became famous through appearances on multiple television shows. She is known for the restaurants she currently owns in airports across the United States, and for competi ...

. Ells had not previously watched reality television and was disillusioned with the experience. Chipotle announced on November 29, 2017, that Ells would step down as CEO following the appointment of a new CEO with "turnaround expertise." Ells served as executive chairman after the new CEO appointment, and served on the CEO search committee with fellow Chipotle board members Robin Hickenlooper and Ali Namvar. Ells left the company in March 2020.

Controversies

Ells has received criticism over his salary. In 2013, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported he was paid $25.1 million, more than equivalent executives in companies like

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

, and

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

. By the early 2010s, Ells and his co-CEO, Montgomery Moran, were paid more than $300 million. In May 2014 shareholders rejected a plan to further increase the executives' wages.

References

External links

*
Photo Essay, Time Magazine: Steve Ells
*
How I Built This with Guy Raz - Chipotle: Steve Ells
(audio interview) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ells, Steve 1966 births 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople American male chefs American chief executives of food industry companies American food company founders American restaurateurs Businesspeople from Indianapolis Businesspeople from Colorado Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park alumni Fast casual chain founders American LGBTQ businesspeople LGBTQ people from Indiana LGBTQ people from Colorado Living people University of Colorado Boulder alumni Chefs from Colorado