March 24, 2011, Louisville: The world's largest restaurant company by number of locations (38,000 and counting) resonated with thrifty diners and investors recovering from the recession: Yum Brands (No. 214) delivered $11.3 billion in revenue and a 40% increase in share price in 2010. While its flagship brands -- KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell -- may seem distinctly American, Yum claims to be the largest retail developer in China today. About 65% of the company's profits came from outside the U.S. last year.
Left to right: Thomas Nelson, CEO, National Gypsum; Kenneth Langone, founder and CEO, Invemed Associates; J. David Grissom, chairman, Mayfair Capital, and chairman, Glenview Trust; David Novak, CEO, Yum Brands; Jing-Shyh (Sam) Su, vice chairman, Yum Brands, and CEO, Yum Restaurants China; David Dorman, nonexecutive chairman, Motorola Solutions; Thomas Ryan, chairman, CVS Caremark and CVS Pharmacy; Robert Holland Jr., managing director and advisory board member, Essex Lake Group; Bonnie Hill, president, B. Hill Enterprises; Robert Walter, founder and retired CEO, Cardinal Health; Jonathan Linen, adviser to the chairman, American Express
NEXT: Weyerhaeuser