Steve Easterbrook

Stephen James Easterbrook (born 6 August 1967) is a British business executive. From March 2015 to November 2019, he was president and chief executive of McDonald's, the American fast food company.

Steve Easterbrook
Born
Stephen James Easterbrook

(1967-08-06) 6 August 1967
Watford, England
NationalityBritish
EducationWatford Grammar School for Boys
Alma materDurham University
OccupationBusiness executive
TitleFormer president and CEO, McDonald's
TermMarch 2015 – November 2019
PredecessorDon Thompson
SuccessorChris Kempczinski
Children3

On 1 November 2019, the board of directors voted to dismiss Easterbrook with immediate effect, due to evidence of a relationship with a staff member, which is a violation of company policy.

Early life

Stephen James Easterbrook was born on 6 August 1967 in Watford, England.[1][2][3][4] He grew up in Watford[5][6] and was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys.[4] He studied natural sciences at St Chad's College, Durham University, where he played cricket with fellow student Nasser Hussain, who would later become England cricket captain.[4]

Career

After university, he trained as an accountant with Price Waterhouse.[4] Easterbrook first worked for McDonald’s in 1993 as a manager in London. In 2011 he left to become CEO of PizzaExpress and then CEO of Wagamama, two British casual dining chains, before returning to McDonald’s in 2013.[7]

On 1 March 2015, after being chief brand officer of McDonald's and its former head in the UK and northern Europe, he became the CEO of the company, succeeding Don Thompson, who stepped down on 28 January 2015.[8] For 2016, Easterbrook's total compensation almost doubled to $15.4 million.[9]

In November 2019, McDonald's board of directors voted to remove Easterbrook as CEO since he had violated corporate policies on personal conduct by entering into a relationship with a company employee. [10] He was replaced as CEO by Chris Kempczinski, who had been president of McDonald's USA.[11]

In August 2020, McDonald's filed suit against Easterbrook, accusing him of lying about the number and extent of his relationships with subordinate employees and seeking to recover his severance package of more than $40 million. The company claimed that Easterbrook had sexual relationships with three women in the year before he was fired and awarded one of these employees stock options worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Easterbrook was also accused of using his corporate email account to receive and send sexually explicit photos and videos of various women (including the three alleged relationships). The lawsuit is seeking to change the reason for Easterbrook's removal to "for cause", allowing the company to recoup its severance payments. [12]

Personal life

He is divorced[13] with three children, who visit McDonald's two or three times a month.[4] He lives in Illinois, and is a Watford FC football fan.[14]

References
  1. Rafferty, John P. "Steve Easterbrook". Britannica. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  2. "Wagamama Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  3. "Stephen J. Easterbrook". Bloomberg. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  4. Thompson, James (10 June 2010). "Steve Easterbrook: An appetite for more growth at McDonald's UK". The Independent. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  5. Trotman, Andrew (28 January 2015). "McDonald's names UK-born Steve Easterbrook as new chief executive". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  6. Monaghan, Angela (29 January 2015). "Profile: McDonald's chief executive Steve Easterbrook". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  7. Giammona, Craig (28 January 2015). "McDonald's CEO Don Thompson to Step Down". Bloomberg. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  8. Neate, Rupert (29 January 2015). "McDonald's chief executive steps down after sales slump". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  10. Haddon, Heather. "McDonald's Fires CEO Steve Easterbrook Over Relationship With Employee". WSJ.
  11. "McDonald's CEO steps down after relationship with employee". Evening Express. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  12. Enrich, David; Abrams, Rachel. "McDonald's Sues Former C.E.O., Accusing Him of Lying and Fraud". NYT.
  13. Duke, Simon (7 January 2018). "Steve Easterbrook: The wizard from Watford shaking up McDonald's". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  14. Robertson, Jamie (29 January 2015). "Steve Easterbrook's new McJob". BBC. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
Business positions
Preceded by
Don Thompson		 CEO of McDonald's
2015–2019		 Succeeded by
Chris Kempczinski
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.