“Everything is going very well. And I said, ‘So, I’m thinking, it’s about time to be CEO.’ And he’s very reflective. He stops for a minute, and he said, ‘No, not ever,’” Stewart recalled. That was her signal to take her talents elsewhere. “I think you’re holding me accountable for everything, but you’re not giving me the title. So I’m gonna go ahead and leave.”
“I called the chair and CEO of Applebee’s, and I said, ‘Just wanted to say hi.’ And he said, ‘I was expecting this call,’” Stewart reminisced. “And I said, ‘As you know, this morning, we announced that we have purchased, for 2.3 billion, the company, and we don’t need two of us, so I’m gonna have to let you go.’”
Fortune reached out to Applebee’s for comment.
Stewart is one of many business leaders who got back at their critics by achieving billion-dollar success.
But Smith wasn’t deterred by a bad grade in class; after returning from service in the Vietnam War in 1971, he would set his delivery business plan in motion. Today, FedEx boasts a market cap of $55 billion.
