News

McDonald's eliminating COO position after Fenton's October retirement

March 21, 2014

McDonald's COO Tim Fenton announced that he will retire on Oct. 1, after serving with the company since 1973.

The 56-year-old will continue to serve as COO during a transition period, and will then move into an advisory role to help CEO Don Thompson focus on global franchising, restaurant portfolio optimization and other business initiatives, according to a news release.

McDonald's will not replace Fenton, but will rather restructure its reporting structure and broaden responsibilities of two executives:

• Pete Bensen, 51, EVP and CFO, will assume oversight for Worldwide Supply Chain, Development and Franchising functions.
• Steve Easterbrook, 46, EVP and global chief brand officer, will assume oversight for the Restaurant Solutions Group; Corporate Strategy; and the Global CSR, Sustainability and Philanthropy department.

The board has elected Bensen and Easterbrook senior executive vice presidents.

Also, McDonald's Area of the World presidents, responsible for the operations of McDonald's 35,000 restaurants worldwide, will now report directly to Thompson.

"We are confident that Pete, Steve and our global leadership team will remain focused on driving the business forward and delivering an outstanding restaurant experience to our 70 million customers we serve daily around the world," Thompson said in the release.

Fenton's 41 years of service

Fenton joined McDonald's in 1973 as a crew member in Utica, N.Y. He has held a variety of leadership roles throughout his McDonald's career, including president of McDonald's Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Prior to that, he served as president of the East Division for McDonald's USA. Before joining the U.S. business, he was SVP of Southeast Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, VP and managing director of McDonald's Middle East Development Company and served in numerous operations and leadership positions in Asia, Poland, Central Europe and the U.S.

"I'm making a difficult and personal decision to retire," Fenton said in the release. "It's widely known that I battle severe asthma. I simply cannot continue to meet the global travel demands of this position and will focus on improving my health closer to home. I intend to always be of service to this great company, our employees, customers and suppliers."