Michael T. Lawton

Director at Universal Corporation

MICHAEL T. LAWTON, retired as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Domino’s Pizza, Inc., (“Domino’s”) in August 2015. In this position, Mr. Lawton oversaw all financial functions, including financial reporting, treasury, internal audit, tax, risk management, budgeting and analysis, as well as providing strategic oversight. During his time as Chief Financial Officer, Domino’s completed a refinancing of the company with a non-traditional asset backed securitization private placement. Mr. Lawton previously served in numerous executive roles with Domino's, including Interim Chief Information Officer, Executive Vice President of Supply Chain Services, in which he was responsible for North America supply chain operations, and Executive Vice President of International, during which he managed the international business during a period of rapid growth, which included entering 15 new markets. While in this role, he also led a cross-functional task force charged with evaluating the traffic decay in the U.S. business and identifying necessary strategic changes to reverse the trend. He began his tenure with Domino’s in 1999 as Vice President of International Finance, in which he worked with franchises across over 60 markets to identify opportunities for growth. From 1986 to 1999, Mr. Lawton held various financial and general management positions with Gerber Products Company, a subsidiary of Nestle, including serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lawton held several positions at Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young) ranging from staff auditor to audit manager, serving clients in manufacturing, health care and wholesale. Since 2013, Mr. Lawton has been a Director of La-Z-Boy, Inc., a manufacturer, importer, distributor and retailer of upholstery furniture products, serving as Chairman of its Audit Committee and is a member of its Compensation Committee. Mr. Lawton has served as a director for Universal Corporation since 2016 and is Chairman of the Audit Committee, as well as a member of the Compensation and Executive Committees.

Timeline

  • Director

    Current role