McDonald's CEO Dead, COO Takes Helm
CHICAGO (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:MCD - news) Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Cantalupo died of an apparent heart attack on Monday in Florida and the company named Chief Operating Officer Charlie Bell to replace him as CEO.
News of Cantalupo's death shocked investors and the world's largest fast-food company's many restaurant operators, just as his turn-around strategy was beginning to pay off.
McDonald's shares recovered after slumping in early New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites) trade on concern over who would be named successor to Cantalupo, who is largely credited with the company's recent turnaround.
McDonald's also named board member Andrew McKenna, the company's 77-year-old presiding director, as non-executive chairman.
Many on Wall Street have long speculated that Bell, 43, had been groomed to take over McDonald's top post. An Australian, he has also been key to McDonald's revitalization, with an emphasis on its marketing efforts and store refurbishment.
"Charlie is a great operator," said JMP Securities analyst Dean Haskell, who rates the shares "market perform." "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, 60, died while a attending a franchisee convention in Orlando. He 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.
A near 30-year company veteran, Cantalupo acted quickly to focus on improved food and service that led to a revitalization of McDonald's U.S. market, its largest, which was recovering in recent months after a sustained period of flagging sales.
McDonald's stock, which had been the second-best performer in the Dow Jones industrial average in 2004, slumped 3 percent in early trading, on concern over who would take the helm of a hamburger empire that spans 119 countries and more than 30,000 hamburger restaurants.
RIGHTING THE SHIP
Cantalupo, a former vice chairman and president of the company with experience running its far-flung international operations, came back when McDonald's was struggling.
The company faced falling profits in a saturated domestic hamburger market, the impact from outbreaks of mad cow disease in key markets such as Europe and Japan, waning service, with reports of dirty restaurants and slowing transaction times.
In little over a year, he helped standardize service in the company's some 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.
He also recognized the importance of defining the role of the fast-food industry within a growing U.S. obesity crisis that saw lawsuits targeting McDonald's and other fast-food chains.
In February, sales growth at U.S. restaurants open more than a year rose to their highest level in 30 years. In 2003, McDonald's reported a profit of $1.47 billion on total revenue of $17.14 billion.
News of the death of the CEO, known for his affable personality, shocked operators of McDonald's restaurants attending the franchisee meeting, which occurs 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."
McDonald's shares fell 36 cents to $27.10 in late-morning trade on the NYSE.
Since the beginning of 2004, McDonald's shares are up 10.6 percent, the second best performer in the Dow Jones industrial average. In March 2003, the shares had fallen to a 10-year low of $12.45.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:MCD - news) Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Cantalupo died of an apparent heart attack on Monday in Florida and the company named Chief Operating Officer Charlie Bell to replace him as CEO.
News of Cantalupo's death shocked investors and the world's largest fast-food company's many restaurant operators, just as his turn-around strategy was beginning to pay off.
McDonald's shares recovered after slumping in early New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites) trade on concern over who would be named successor to Cantalupo, who is largely credited with the company's recent turnaround.
McDonald's also named board member Andrew McKenna, the company's 77-year-old presiding director, as non-executive chairman.
Many on Wall Street have long speculated that Bell, 43, had been groomed to take over McDonald's top post. An Australian, he has also been key to McDonald's revitalization, with an emphasis on its marketing efforts and store refurbishment.
"Charlie is a great operator," said JMP Securities analyst Dean Haskell, who rates the shares "market perform." "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, 60, died while a attending a franchisee convention in Orlando. He 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.
A near 30-year company veteran, Cantalupo acted quickly to focus on improved food and service that led to a revitalization of McDonald's U.S. market, its largest, which was recovering in recent months after a sustained period of flagging sales.
McDonald's stock, which had been the second-best performer in the Dow Jones industrial average in 2004, slumped 3 percent in early trading, on concern over who would take the helm of a hamburger empire that spans 119 countries and more than 30,000 hamburger restaurants.
RIGHTING THE SHIP
Cantalupo, a former vice chairman and president of the company with experience running its far-flung international operations, came back when McDonald's was struggling.
The company faced falling profits in a saturated domestic hamburger market, the impact from outbreaks of mad cow disease in key markets such as Europe and Japan, waning service, with reports of dirty restaurants and slowing transaction times.
In little over a year, he helped standardize service in the company's some 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.
He also recognized the importance of defining the role of the fast-food industry within a growing U.S. obesity crisis that saw lawsuits targeting McDonald's and other fast-food chains.
In February, sales growth at U.S. restaurants open more than a year rose to their highest level in 30 years. In 2003, McDonald's reported a profit of $1.47 billion on total revenue of $17.14 billion.
News of the death of the CEO, known for his affable personality, shocked operators of McDonald's restaurants attending the franchisee meeting, which occurs 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."
McDonald's shares fell 36 cents to $27.10 in late-morning trade on the NYSE.
Since the beginning of 2004, McDonald's shares are up 10.6 percent, the second best performer in the Dow Jones industrial average. In March 2003, the shares had fallen to a 10-year low of $12.45.
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