Robert Earl

In 2018, he acquired the Bertucci's Company and its 59 locations, predominantly located in New England and the northeastern United States.

In 2018, Earl and Guy Fieri partnered to open a fried chicken fast-food chain called Chicken Guy! The first location opened at Disney Springs in Orlando, Florida.

In March 2016, Earl sold his stake in Everton Football Club to Farhad Moshiri at a reported £175million valuation.

On the Food Fortunes television program, food visionaries pitch their products to a rotating panel of Investors, who are some of the biggest names in the food, online and retail industry. Earl is a recurring castmember during Season 1, as a member of the Panel of Investors. The series, which premiered on 9 March 2015, airs weekly on the Food Network.

As Host of Robert Earl's Be My Guest, Earl travels the world exploring popular restaurants and dishes out his knowledge from decades in the dining industry. The series premiered in September 2014 and airs weekly on the Cooking Channel. The show's success was celebrated with a primetime marathon in February 2015.

In 2014, Robert Earl was a guest judge on two episodes of the television series On the Menu, which was produced by Mark Burnett and aired on TNT television network. Each episode features contestants battle to create a dish to put on the menu of a national restaurant chain. Two Episodes of On the Menu centred around restaurant chains owned by Robert Earl, for which he served on the panel of judges deciding the winner. In Season 1 Episode 4, the final challenge was creating a dessert for Earl's Planet Hollywood restaurants. In Season 1 Episode 9, the final challenge was creating a pasta dish for Earl's Buca di Beppo restaurants.

Earl graduated from the University of Surrey with an honours degree in Hotel and Catering Management. In 2012, he set up the Robert Earl Scholarship, awarded each year to 14 students across the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, worth up to £2,500 each.

In 2008, he acquired the casual dining company Buca di Beppo and its chain of 88 restaurants, which serve family-style Italian fare. Earl, Chairman of Buca, has expanded the chain of Italian restaurants into new locations in both the US and internationally. Buca di Beppo features dishes from villages in Northern and Southern Italy and is equally famous for its quirky décor and upbeat atmosphere.

In October 2006, Earl became a 23% owner and director of English Premier League club Everton, buying the shareholding of Paul and Anita Gregg via his BCR Sports investment vehicle registered in the British Virgin Islands.

In 2004, Robert Earl, Lord John Montagu, and Orlando Montagu founded Earl of Sandwich, a series of sandwich shops, and opened the first location at Downtown Disney. Earl of Sandwich has since become a franchise with 36 locations, and Earl serves as the Chairman.

In June 2003, in partnership with Bay Harbour Management LC and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Earl purchased the Aladdin Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. In 2007 it was relaunched as the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. In 2010, Earl sold the property to Caesars Entertainment, but retained the brands license.

Earl was named one of "The 25 Most Influential Americans" by Time in 2001.

In 1991, Earl founded Planet Hollywood, negotiating celebrity investments from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, and partnerships including Demi Moore, and Sylvester Stallone. Earl has since bought it back from Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice, but he still owns a large amount of stock with original investors Schwarzenegger and Willis, alongside new Asian investors.

Earl quickly grew the business into a restaurant empire totalling 70 restaurants by the time he merged his company President Entertainment with Pleasurama PLC, a London-based leisure group, in 1987. The transaction yielded Earl $63 million.

Earl began his career with his first Beefeater medieval theatre-themed restaurant in 1972. With its success, Earl opened additional themed restaurants, The Cockney Club, Shakespeare's Tavern, and Talk of London, close by in the late 1970s. Seeing the US market as having more growth potential, he attempted to sell the concepts to developers working on the Disney's EPCOT, but the deal fell through. He stayed to opened several theme-restaurants with medieval and Wild West concepts in the Orlando market. Amongst those themed restaurants in central Florida were Caruso's Palace (now Race Rock), King Henry's Feast and the original Shakespeare's Tavern on Church Street.

Robert Earl (born 29 May 1951) is a British-American businessman who is the founder and CEO of Planet Hollywood, Chairman of the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, and host of Robert Earl's Be My Guest television program which airs weekly on the Cooking Channel.