Woman Claims She Was Denied the CEO Role at Applebee’s Before Buying the Company

The former head of IHOP was described as a “stone-cold killer” for a bold business move that she made after she claimed she was burned by the CEO and chair of Applebee’s years ago.

During an April 2025 appearance on the Matthews Mentality Podcast, Julia Stewart recalled a conversation that she had with the head of the Applebee’s after IHOP bought the company out for an impressive $2.3 billion in the ’00s.

Stewart explained that she had previously worked as the president of Applebee’s. In the role, she had allegedly been promised that she would be made CEO if she was able to make the company turn a profit.

She took on the challenge and put in the hard work before allegedly getting some bad news.

“So I went out and pretty much started with a new team, the best that I could possibly find. And to this day, most of them are good friends. But what we did was pretty remarkable,” she said about her team at Applebee’s.

After around three years, she had managed to reshape the company and turn it successful. That led to a meeting with the former CEO and chair where she got some life-changing news.

“I go in with my little graph, right? And I’ve got the chart going in the right direction. Stock has doubled. Life is good. Everything is going very well. I couldn’t be more proud of the team. And I said, ‘So I’m thinking it’s about time to be CEO,’ ” she recalled.

Continuing, Stewart said, “And he’s very reflective; he stops for a minute. I’m sure it was 10 seconds. It felt like a minute and a half. And he says, ‘No.’ And I thought he meant, ‘No, not today.’ And I laughed and said, ‘Well, no. I’m not suggesting today but perhaps for something you want me to showcase. Perhaps you want me to demonstrate something more than I have already or the board wants to see something.’ And he said, ‘No, not ever.’ ”

She asked why, and he told her that he “[didn’t] have to have an answer.”

Asked how she replied, Stewart explained that she took a step back because she didn’t want to react while angry.

“I said, ‘I’m going to excuse myself. I’m going to go home early, and I’m going to reflect on this conversation,’ which is the only thing I could think of. And I came back the next day and said, ‘You know, I’ve thought about it, and I think you’re holding me accountable for everything. But you’re not giving me the title so I’m going to go ahead and leave,’ ” she claimed. “And he said, ‘Well, no. You can’t leave. If you leave the stock will tank.’ ”

Ultimately, the pair reached an agreement where Stewart “would stay for a couple months” to figure out a way to transition the team without causing financial ruin.

Afterwards, she wound up taking the job at IHOP, and she spent “a good five years” working to turn the company around.

“When I got there, it hadn’t had comparable growth,” she said, adding that it was “really struggling” and lacked “brand image.”

After they were successful, she realized that they should buy another brand to continue growing.

“I went to the board of directors and said, ‘We probably need to look for an acquisition because if we don’t find one, we’re going to be ripe for takeover. But I promise you, I will be thorough and thoughtful, myself and the team, about looking for something that’s going to be a wow,’ ” she said.

As she was conducting research, she realized that Applebee’s could be “really interesting.”

“Now, obviously, ultimately, you don’t borrow $2.3 billion for revenge. You just don’t do that,” Stewart said. “But we did borrow $2.3 billion. We did buy Applebee’s.”

After it was made official, she said that she called the CEO and chair of Applebee’s said that they had purchased the company. Since they’d acquired it, she said that they “didn’t need two of us” in leadership and that she was “going to have to let you go.”