Carl Icahn says he's prepared to launch a proxy fight at McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) if the fast-food giant doesn't stop using suppliers who house pregnant pigs in small boxes.
Why it matters: Icahn is demanding that McDonald's prioritize something other than profits, which is a jagged departure from the activist investor's oeuvre. It's also unusual because Icahn holds only around $25,000 worth of McDonald's stock.
Backstory: Icahn was quietly a driving force behind McDonald's announcing in 2012 that within 10 years it would stop buying pork products from producers who use so-called gestation crates, as first reported by the WSJ.
- But now he thinks the company has used a disingenuous workaround, letting producers use the crates until pregnancy is officially confirmed; which can be up to six weeks into 16-week pregnancies.
The bottom line: "We’re not going to fool around with them anymore.” — Icahn to Bloomberg TV
