McDonald’s Quickly Fills CEO Post
McDonald’s Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Cantalupo, credited with recently turning around the iconic American fast-food company, died Monday of what appeared to be a heart attack, and the company named a successor within hours.
McDonald’s appointed Australian Charlie Bell, the 43-year-old chief operating officer who had been seen as heir apparent, to replace Cantalupo as its first non-American CEO.
Cantalupo, 60, died while attending a McDonald’s franchisee convention in Orlando, Fla. The death of a chief executive known for his affable personality and high energy shocked restaurant operators attending the meeting, which is held every two years.
“He was such a beloved character,” said one McDonald’s operator in attendance, who declined to be named. “People were actually crying.”
Cantalupo came out of retirement in early 2003 to take the helm of the world’s largest restaurant company after former CEO Jack Greenberg resigned under pressure.
His death comes as McDonald’s is faced with defining its role in a growing obesity crisis, which has attracted some lawsuits blaming the company and the fast-food industry. Cantalupo helped develop the company’s anti-obesity campaign, a recent push to promote healthier menu choices and exercise.
McDonald’s stock pared some early losses after slumping more than 3% on concern over who would take the helm of an empire that spans 119 countries and some 30,000 hamburger restaurants, as well as the Boston Market and Chipotle chains.
The company also named Andrew McKenna, 74, its presiding director, as nonexecutive chairman. McKenna, chairman and chief executive of printer Schwarz Paper Co., reached board retirement age at 73 but was asked to stay on during the company’s turnaround. He joined the board in 1991.
Many on Wall Street had long speculated that Bell was being groomed to take over McDonald’s top post. He too has been deeply involved in McDonald’s revitalization, with an eye toward marketing, store refurbishment and hands-on operational improvements.
“Charlie is a great operator,” JMP Securities analyst Dean Haskell said. “He has been with the business from the ground up. He obviously will continue the policies that Jim Cantalupo has begun in turning the company around. We’re glad the board moved decisively.”
Cantalupo, a nearly 30-year company veteran, acted quickly upon his return to focus on improved food and service, leading to a revitalization of McDonald’s U.S. market, its largest. Sales showed steady improvement in recent months after flagging for a sustained period.
In February, sales growth at U.S. restaurants that had been open more than a year rose to its highest level in 30 years. In 2003, McDonald’s reported profit of $1.47 billion on total revenue of $17.14 billion.
A former vice chairman and president of the firm, Cantalupo began his career with McDonald’s in 1974 as controller and took over international operations in 1987, when the firm operated in only 46 countries.
He returned to the company during hard times. In addition to the growing obesity crisis, he inherited falling profit in a saturated domestic hamburger market, the effect of outbreaks of mad cow disease in key markets such as Europe and Japan, and waning service, amid reports of dirty restaurants and slowing transaction times.
In little over a year, Cantalupo helped to standardize service in the company’s 13,000 U.S. stores, expand the menu with entree-sized salads and all-white-meat Chicken McNuggets, and launch McDonald’s first global marketing effort.
Shares of Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s fell 71 cents to $26.75 on the New York Stock Exchange. They sank as low as $26.50 earlier in the session.
