Yahoo Finance Fired McDonald’s CEO scores massive payout
The McDonald’s CEO sacked over a consensual affair with an employee will receive severance pay of around AU$974,000.
McDonald’s announced Steve Easterbrook would leave the company after demonstrating “poor judgment” by engaging in an affair with a colleague. McDonald’s bans all romantic relationships between managers and any direct or indirect reports.
But according to The Sun, the misdemeanour won’t hurt Easterbrook’s hip pocket too much: the British businessman is set to receive nearly $1 million in severance pay, which is half his annual basic salary.
McDonald’s has also said Easterbook is eligible for a pro-rata bonus for his 2019 work, which should be paid in March.
Easterbrook received AU$22.46 million in bonuses in 2018.
According to Bloomberg, Easterbrook will also be allowed to keep unvested options worth around US$23.5 million (AU$34.17 million), and he could also gain from grants of restricted shares linked to McDonald’s financial performance worth around US$13.8 million (AU$20.06 million).
These details were confirmed in a notice to the US SEC.
Easterbrook is also banned from speaking badly about McDonald’s and from working for rival companies including Pizza Hut, Burger King, KFC and Subway.
Easterbrook’s 2018 salary was 2,124 times the median employee salary.
The businessman first joined McDonald’s in 1993 as a manager in London, before being appointed CEO in 2015.
His successor, Chris Kempczinski said he thanked Easterbrook in a statement.
“Steve brought me into McDonald's and he was a patient and helpful mentor," Kempczinski said.
Kempczinski will receive a base salary of US$1.25 million and a target bonus of 170 per cent of his base salary.
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