Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Sonic Corp.
Clifford Hudson has spent the last 21 years of his career at SONIC Corp., an Oklahoma City-based, publicly-held company that owns, operates and franchises SONIC Drive-In restaurants (NASDAQ: SONC). Today, he is chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president of this public company with 3,000 franchised and company-operated drive-in restaurants. SONIC's common stock is included in the S&P MidCap 600 Index.
Hudson was named chief executive officer (CEO) and president of SONIC Corp. in April 1995 and became chairman of the board in January 2000. Previously, he served the company in a variety of capacities, including general counsel, chief financial officer and chief operating officer.
During Hudson's tenure as CEO of SONIC, average drive-in sales have grown from $602,000 to $964,000 and brand awareness has doubled. The company's revenues are five times greater and market capitalization (the public value of its common stock) has grown from $185 million to $2.0 billion. He has appeared on CNBC's Wakeup Call, Squawk Box and Power Lunch programs, as well as Bloomberg's news programs on numerous occasions.
Hudson has been affiliated with many non-profit and community activities. He served as chairman of the board of directors of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), a presidential appointment, from 1994 - 2001. He now serves as Chairman of the Oklahoma City School Board, a position created in 2000 as part of a $530 million turnaround of a 40,000 student, inner city Oklahoma City Public School system.
Hudson graduated from the University of Oklahoma, which he attended with Phi Beta Kappa and President's Leadership scholarships. In 1998, Hudson was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences, where he serves as a member of the Board of Visitors. In 2001, he received the University's Regents Award from its Board of Regents.
Hudson graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a member of the legal honor society Phi Delta Phi. In 1979, he served as an editor of the International Law Journal, a publication of the Association of Student International Law Societies. He is also a member of the board of visitors of Georgetown University Law Center.
Hudson and his wife, Leslie, an epidemiologist, live in Oklahoma City with their two sons.
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