Texas Roadhouse founder and CEO Kent Taylor died on Thursday, the restaurant chain announced on its Facebook page. He was 65.

Taylor died by suicide after a battle with post-Covid-19 associated signs, together with extreme tinnitus, the household stated in a company-issued assertion. Tinnitus is usually described as a ringing within the ear.

“After a battle with post-Covid associated signs, together with extreme tinnitus, Kent Taylor took his personal life this week,” the household stated. “Kent battled and fought arduous like the previous monitor champion that he was, however the struggling that drastically intensified in latest days grew to become insufferable.”

Taylor’s household stated that Taylor just lately dedicated to fund a medical research to assist members of the navy who are suffering with tinnitus.

“We will miss you, Kent. Because of you and your dream of Texas Roadhouse, we get to say we (love) our jobs every single day,” the corporate wrote in a Facebook post on Friday.

The Louisville-based restaurant firm introduced on Friday that President Jerry Morgan will probably be named CEO following Taylor’s loss of life.

“While you by no means count on the lack of such a visionary as Kent, our succession plan, which Kent led, provides us nice confidence,” stated Greg Moore, Texas Roadhouse’s lead director.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer tweeted on Thursday that metropolis had “misplaced a a lot liked and one-of-a-kind citizen.”

“Kent’s sort and beneficiant spirit was his fixed driving pressure whether or not it was quietly serving to a buddy or constructing one in all America’s nice firms in @texasroadhouse,” Fisher wrote. “He was a maverick entrepreneur who embodied the values of by no means giving up and placing others first.”

If you or somebody you realize are having ideas of suicide or self hurt, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at this link or by calling 1-800-273-TALK. The hotline is open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.