David M. Overton

Founding and early years

Evelyn Overton, inspired by a cheesecake recipe from a Detroit newspaper, made a cheesecake for her husband's employer in the 1940s. The cheesecake was well received, and she opened a small cheesecake bakery in Detroit, Michigan, in the late 1950s. She closed the bakery to raise her children but continued supplying cheesecakes to local restaurants from her basement kitchen. In 1967, Evelyn's son David M. Overton left Detroit to attend Hastings College of Law in San Francisco but decided to be a drummer in 1968, performing with the Billy Roberts Blues Band. In 1971, David convinced his parents to relocate to Los Angeles to open a commercial bakery. In 1972, they moved to the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles where they opened The Cheesecake Factory Bakery, selling cheesecakes and other desserts to local restaurants.

Animal welfare

In 2012, the Cheesecake Factory committed to eliminate the use of gestation crates from its pork supply chain by 2022. In its 2021 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, it stated that by the end of 2022, 75% of its U.S. pork supply would be crate-free. In 2024, the Cheesecake Factory was highlighted by animal welfare organization Animal Equality for having made progress toward eliminating gestation crates in its supply chain, but not having eliminated them entirely.

In 2015, the Cheesecake Factory stated that it would eliminate the use of battery cage eggs from its supply chain, but did not specify a timeline for doing so. In 2023, it was identified by The Humane League and the Open Wing Alliance for failing to report progress on its cage-free transition. In March 2025, The Humane League stated that the Cheesecake Factory had achieved a 100% cage-free transition.

Legal problems

On December 4, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission resolved charges brought against the Cheesecake Factory for misleading investors during the COVID-19 pandemic; the company paid a $125,000 fine without admitting the findings in the order.