Home Scandal and Gossip Texas Roadhouse founder & CEO kills self amid unbearable COVID-19 symptoms

Texas Roadhouse founder & CEO kills self amid unbearable COVID-19 symptoms

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Kent Taylor Texas Roadhouse suicide
Kent Taylor Texas Roadhouse tinnitus suicide. Founder of eponymous restaurant chain takes his own life after grappling with ongoing long term symptoms of COVID-19.
Kent Taylor Texas Roadhouse suicide
Kent Taylor Texas Roadhouse tinnitus suicide. Founder of eponymous restaurant chain takes his own life after grappling with ongoing long term symptoms of COVID.

Kent Taylor tinnitus suicide: Texas Roadhouse founder & CEO kills self amid COVID-19 long term symptoms suffering. A visionary takes his own life as focus is brought to living with ongoing afflictions of the coronavirus. 

Texas Roadhouse founder and CEO Kent Taylor committed suicide after struggling with ‘unbearable’ long-term symptoms of COVID-19, the company said.

Taylor, 65, based in Louisville, Kentucky, took his own life Thursday, the restaurant chain said in a statement. The cause of death was not made public. 

The statement said that Taylor had been experiencing post-coronavirus symptoms that had grown worse — including severe tinnitus, or ringing in the ear.

Some research has shown that COVID-19 can exacerbate tinnitus, which causes a ringing sound in one or both ears.

‘Kent battled and fought hard like the former track champion that he was, but the suffering that greatly intensified in recent days became unbearable,’ the statement said, according to McClatchy News.

‘He changed the lives of hundreds of millions of employees and guests …’

‘Our community and the restaurant industry lost a legend and the Taylor family lost a wonderful son, father and grandad,’ said a joint statement from the company and family obtained by CNN.

‘Kent leaves an unmatched legacy as a people-first leader, which is why he often said that Texas Roadhouse was a people company that just happened to serve steaks. 

‘He changed the lives of hundreds of millions of employees and guests over the past 28 years.

‘We are saddened by the decision Kent felt he needed to make and want to emphasize more than ever the importance of reaching out for help if you or someone you love is suffering.’

Taylor had forfeited his salary from March 2020 through the rest of the year to allow the funds to go to help frontline restaurant employees during the pandemic.

‘We will miss you, Kent. Because of you and your dream of Texas Roadhouse, we get to say we love our jobs every day,’ the company wrote in a tribute on Facebook.

Taylor founded Texas Roadhouse in 1993 after coming up with the idea on a cocktail napkin. The first location opened in Louisville, Kentucky, where the company is based. Today, it boasts 630 restaurants in 49 states and 10 countries.

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