According to CNN Business New York, Steve Easterbrook has been fired as McDonald’s CEO and president after the board determined that he violated company policy. He has been replaced by Kempczinski.
Easterbrook, who became CEO in 2015, “demonstrated poor judgment involving a recent consensual relationship with an employee,” McDonald’s said in a statement.
Easterbrook reportedly wrote, “This (relationship) was a mistake. Given the values of the company, I agree with the board that it is time for me to move on. Beyond this, I hope you can respect my desire to maintain my privacy.”
Kempczinski, who joined McDonald’s in 2015 and was most recently president of McDonald’s USA, said in a statement that he is “energized by this challenge” and looks forward “to guiding McDonald’s continued success.”
According to TMZ, Easterbrook is divorced. He is a father and visiting fellow at the University of Oxford’s Said Business School.
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.
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. For 2016, Easterbrook’s total compensation almost doubled to $15.4 million
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