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| McDonald’s CEO fired for consensual relationship with employee, company says | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| McDonald’s fired its CEO Steve Easterbrook after the fast food giant’s Board of Directors found he “demonstrated poor judgment” in a consensual relationship with an employee, the company announced Sunday. | |
| The board voted Friday to oust Easterbrook following a review, concluding he violated the company’s policy against manager relationships with direct or indirect reports, according to the company. Easterbrook has been replaced with Chris Kempczinski, previously the president of McDonald’s USA. | |
| Easterbrook called his recent relationship with an employee “a mistake” in an email to McDonald’s employees. | Easterbrook called his recent relationship with an employee “a mistake” in an email to McDonald’s employees. |
| “Given the values of the company, I agree with the board that it is time for me to move on,” he wrote. | |
| Details of Easterbrook’s severance package will be disclosed by Tuesday in a federal filing, the company said. | |
| McDonald’s has not shared further details of the relationship that led Easterbrook to leave. | |
| Easterbrook became CEO in 2015 as McDonald’s struggled to keep its customers. After the chain announced a drop in U.S. sales as well as a 33 percent dip in global profits the first quarter of that year, he promised a plan to “better address today’s consumer needs, expectations and the competitive marketplace.” | |
| McDonald’s shares rose under Easterbrook’s leadership, and McDonald’s retains its spot at the top of U.S. fast food sales, even as the industry faces challenges. Last year, Easterbrook — who is also on the board of Walmart — received $15.9 million in pay. | |
| Easterbrook told staff that Kempczinski was “an important partner to me over the last four years and … the ideal person to take on the role of CEO." | |
| McDonald’s, too, praised Kempczinski’s contributions in a statement. | |
| “Chris was instrumental in the development of the Company’s strategic plan, which has enabled global growth and leadership, and has overseen the most comprehensive transformation of the U.S. business in McDonald’s history,” Enrique Hernandez Jr., chairman of the chain’s board of directors, said. | “Chris was instrumental in the development of the Company’s strategic plan, which has enabled global growth and leadership, and has overseen the most comprehensive transformation of the U.S. business in McDonald’s history,” Enrique Hernandez Jr., chairman of the chain’s board of directors, said. |
| In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Kempczinski, said he will continue Easterbrook’s investments in technology and looks forward to discussing franchisees’ concerns. | |
| “There isn’t going to be some radical, strategic shift," he told the Journal Sunday. “The plan is working.” |