Chris Kempczinski faced more than his share of problems when he became McDonald's CEO four years ago. He got the job abruptly after his predecessor, Steve Easterbrook, stepped down following revelations of an inappropriate relationship with an employee. As Kempczinski tried to steady the ship, the pandemic arrived, shuttering restaurants worldwide. Just as the pandemic was subsiding, Russia invaded Ukraine, forcing him to make the wrenching decision to pull out of Russia, where McDonald’s had hundreds of company-owned restaurants and 62,000 employees.
McDonald’s is still the world’s largest fast-food business by locations (about 40,000), and comparable-store sales have grown 30% during his tenure. The stock has risen 48%, matching the S&P. But revenue has declined in four of the past six years, and in 2022 it was less than it had been in 2016. While McDonald’s is adding restaurants globally, it hasn’t added any net new U.S. locations in nearly eight years.
