J. Clifford Hudson (born 1954, Dallas) is an American business executive best known for serving as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Oklahoma City-based Sonic Corp.[1] He also served as a trustee of the Ford Foundation and is a past chairman of the board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. From 1994-2001, he served as Board Chair of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, to which he was appointed by President Bill Clinton. Today, he is a founder and managing director of DIA Equity Partners.
Hudson is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and Georgetown University Law Center.[2] He is married to Leslie Hudson, a public health professional and former associate professor at the University of Oklahoma, with whom he has two sons.[3] In his spare time, he has been a member of the Sonic Tones, an eight-member band made up of senior executives of the Sonic Corporation, which competed in the 2003 Battle of the Corporate Bands at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.[4]
Career
After several years as a practicing attorney, Hudson was hired as the head of the legal department for Sonic Corp in 1984.[5] He became president and chief executive officer in 1995, and was named chairman in January 2000.[5] During his tenure, the company grew from a nationwide total of 1,428 locations in 1995[5] to more than 3,500 today,[6] with locations in 45 of the 50 US states.[7] In addition, average drive-in sales have increased by 65% and system-wide sales from $880 million to $4.5 billion. The company's enterprise value grew from approximately $200 million to more than $2.3 billion, when it was acquired by Inspire Brands in 2018.
Hudson is now the Founder and Managing Director of DIA Equity Partners, a private equity firm formed mostly with Sonic related officers and directors. He is also Of Counsel to the firm Crowe & Dunlevy.
In February 2019, Hudson was the James R. Wilson annual guest lecturer at The College of Wooster, where he unveiled plans to release a book entitled, "Master of None". In 2020, he released "Master of None: How a Jack-of-All-Trades Can Still Reach the Top", published by HarperCollins. This personal story of his lifelong development of leadership skills challenges established thinking; offering counter-intuitive career advice essential to professionals at all levels, for the person just starting out or in the middle of their career.
The book offers a different way forward, to help businesses and professionals thrive at all levels. One key takeaway is that it's okay to embrace life as a "master of none", being comfortable with potentiality and variety, allowing yourself to thrive in unfamiliar environments, and seizing opportunities that you didn't see coming. Above all, "Master of None" calls the reader to appreciate that flexibility and adaptation is the foundation for success in work and in life.
Drawing from the real-world evolution of Sonic Drive-In, Hudson and Miller deliver a pragmatic guide with strategic takeaways, from integrating AI to building multi-year digital roadmaps. More than a memoir, the book serves as a playbook for modern leadership, packed with hard-earned lessons, actionable insights, and a universal framework for adapting your traditional brick-and-mortar business model for long-term sustainable growth in the digital age.
"Bricks and Clicks" has quickly become a best seller for Amazon; available in Kindle format, the book will be available on Audible in September 2025.
Philanthropy
Hudson was a member of the board of trustees of the Ford Foundation from 2005 to 2017 and is a past chairman of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He is past chairman of Georgetown University Law Center's Board of Visitors and has served as chairman of the Oklahoma City Public School Board of Education.[8] In 1994, he was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as chairman of the Board of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, and served until 2001. In addition to this he has served on numerous boards related to Oklahoma City including MAPS for Kids—a $700 million school revitalization program.[9] In 2015, Leslie and Clifford Hudson endowed the Hudson Fellows scholarship fund for select Ph.D. students at the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health. By 2018, the Hudsons increased their scholarship gifts to $5 million and the OU Board of Regents named the (now) Hudson College of Public Health in their honor.[10]
Hudson received the 2004 Silver Plate - Foodservice Operator of the Year Award from International Foodservice Manufacturers Association, and the 2000 Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators (MUFSO) Golden Chain Award from Nation's Restaurant News. He has been a guest on various national business programs including CNBC's Mad Money, Squawkbox and Power Lunch, as well as various Bloomberg news programs.[11] In 2009, he was placed on the Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools Hall of Fame for his longstanding service.[8] In 2001 Hudson received the University's Regent's Alumni Award from the University of Oklahoma and, in 2011, the University of Oklahoma conferred to him an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters as a “civic leader and supporter of education”.[12] The Georgetown University Alumni Association has also awarded him its highest honor, the John Carroll Award, in 2014.
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