It’s been clear for a while now on The Young and the Restless that Kyle (Michael Mealor) and Diane (Susan Walters) believe Kyle should be Jack’s (Peter Bergman) co-CEO. Even though, Billy (Jason Thompson) already has the job.
Although the mother-son duo have been bidding their time to deal with the Abbott family’s Tucker McCall (Trevor St. John) problem, in the episode airing on December 15, Diane gives the impression that she’s preparing to shift gears to make sure her son is given the position at Jabot she thinks he deserves.
After having a premature celebratory conversation with Jack and Ashley (Eileen Davidson) about Tucker’s pending downfall, out of nowhere, she pretends to be upset with Billy for allegedly dropping the ball where Jabot is concerned and not being present to hear Tucker agree to buy Ashley’s stake in Glacade. A move the Abbotts hope results in Tucker’s demise.
Diane’s random outburst catches Ashley off guard, who excuses herself from the room, and leaves Jack a bit dismayed. In no uncertain terms, Jack states that Billy and Kyle are in the positions they’re supposed to be in, and he won’t be making any changes regardless of Diane’s desire for him to do so. Well in a plot twist, Diane may get what she wants without continuing to defame Billy or set him up for some nefarious misstep.
Not that long ago, Billy sat down with Jill (Jess Walton), and she practically begged him to quit Jabot and work for her instead at Chancellor-Winters. With Mamie (Veronica Redd) now involved in the latter company and Nate (Sean Dominic) being rehired, Jill feels alone and vulnerable at the corporation where she is the co-founder.
Again in the episode airing on December 15, Billy talks with Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan) about his career path. While he loves the improved dynamic with his siblings at work, he can’t shake the feeling that Jack is waiting for him to fail. On the other hand, Billy knows that Jill has a confidence in him his brother doesn’t and feels she’ll better value his talents.
Although by the end of the episode Billy doesn’t expressly state that he is going to accept Jill’s offer, it looks as if he’s leaning that way. So if he quits Jabot, does that mean Kyle will get what he wants and become the new co-CEO? Maybe not.
While Jack is happy Kyle is back at Jabot, prior to rehiring his son as COO, Jack was under the belief that Kyle was overly entitled and spoiled, and didn’t work his way up the corporate ladder. So will Jack just hand him the co-CEO position only a few weeks later?
Plus, Kyle is holding onto the secret that he once conspired with Tucker to attack Jabot. Although the Abbott heir is now pretending to work with Tucker as a mole to help take him down, if Jack catches wind of Kyle’s original plan, then fireworks will go off.
That leads to the question, “If Kyle is not named co-CEO, then who will be?”
Our best guest is Ashley. She loves Jabot just as much as Jack. Additionally, they could really serve as a dynamic duo with Jack focusing on the overarching business and Ashley dedicating her time to patents and new breakthroughs in the beauty industry. After all, she is a chemist. Not to mention, her taking on the role of co-CEO would prevent Jack and his nuclear family from having so much control over John Abbott’s (Jerry Douglas) legacy.
We understand that Ashley already wields a great deal of power at Jabot given she’s essentially folded her own lucrative business under the family umbrella. However, how great would it be to have the co-CEO job alongside her sibling?
We’ll be paying close attention to the potential Jabot corporate shakeup, along with the new developments in the Claire (Hayle Erin) and Jordan (Colleen Zenk) saga.
New episodes of The Young and the Restless air weekdays on CBS. Episodes become available to stream on Paramount Plus the next day.
