Lynn "L.D." Stewart (born October 10, 1943) is an American businessman. In 1983, he and five associates opened the first Hooters, Inc. restaurant in

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

. The collective Hooters brand has since expanded to more than 430 stores worldwide.

Early life

Born Lynn D. Stewart in

Woodstock, Illinois Woodstock is a city in (and the county seat of) McHenry County, Illinois, McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It is located 45 miles northwest of Chicago, making it one of the city's outer-most suburbs. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, in 1943, Stewart gained early fame as an

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

playing for the 1963

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

squad alongside center

Dick Butkus Richard Marvin Butkus (born December 9, 1942) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, and actor. He played football as a middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) from 1965 to ...

, tackle Archie Sutton, and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Jim Grabowski. The team defeated

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, and fourth-ranked

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

during the regular season. The Fighting Illini squad then topped

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

17–7 in the

1964 Rose Bowl The 1964 Rose Bowl was the 50th Rose Bowl Game, played on January 1, 1964. It featured the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Washington Huskies. Illinois was led by co-captains Dick Butkus and George Donnelly, Jim Grabowski, Lynn Stewart, and Ar ...

. Following college, Stewart served three years in the U.S. Army. Afterward he took a job working for an interstate construction company in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. He also worked for a time as a coal mine foreman in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. When he realized that working in a mine was extremely hazardous, he moved his family from Chattanooga to Florida, where they had relatives. He and his wife Juanita have two sons.

Business ventures

Hooters

Stewart and five business associates opened the first Hooters in

, on April Fools' Day, April 1, 1983, as an inside joke because they were sure they would fail at the venture, even going so far as placing tombstones bearing the names of previous tenants who failed in that location outside the entrance of their new establishment. Stewart said of opening the first Hooters: "I had every intention of being broke in six months." Nearly all of the restaurant's original recipes came from Stewart's test kitchen. Although critics of the Hooter's name and concept dubbed it the nation's first " breastaurant", the concept was a success, and the business started to turn a profit in just four months. The group rapidly expanded the business. In 1996, the Hooters chain generated more than $300 million in revenue. The chain has grown to over 425 restaurants in 44 states and 12 countries. Stewart owned a 51% majority stake of the business until he sold his shares in 1995 to a group led by Robert H. Brooks.

Tax evasion trial

The

United States Federal Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 ...

and

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

filed charges against Stewart in 2005, claiming that he failed to report $11 million in income which he earned by selling his stock and ownership in Hooters Inc. Stewart was charged with two counts each of

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

and of filing false income-tax returns for the years 1997 and 1998. Stewart maintained that his personal assistant and financier, Mike Maricle, was to blame for any tax discrepancies. The trial ended after three weeks in a mistrial.

Other enterprises

Before starting Hooter's, Stewart owned a general contracting company called L.D. Stewart Enterprises. He also served as director of Pearly's Oasis. Both firms were based in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Lynn D. 1943 births American restaurateurs Hooters people People from Woodstock, Illinois Illinois Fighting Illini football players People from Clearwater, Florida Living people