Founder Profile
General Mills
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is General Mills?
General Mills is a founder of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which was founded in 1938 with Bill Darden.
- Company founded
- Darden Restaurants, Inc.
- Founded
- 1938
- Co-founders
- Bill Darden
Background
Minneapolis-based packaged-food company (Cheerios, Betty Crocker) that owned Darden's restaurants from 1970 to 1995.
Founding Story
General Mills acquired Red Lobster in 1970 and used its capital to expand the chain nationally. It opened the first Olive Garden in Orlando in 1982. In 1995 it spun off the restaurant group to shareholders as Darden Restaurants, a separate NYSE-listed company. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).