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    McDonald’s names its CEO as new board chairman

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1156 Views
    Chris Kempczinski, then-incoming president of McDonald's USA, speaks during a presentation at a McDonald's restaurant in New York on Nov. 17, 2016. Kempczinski will become chairman of the company's board later this spring, the company said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

    By Dee-Ann Durbin

    --

    McDonald's CEO will become chairman of the company's board later this spring, the burger chain said Tuesday.

    Chris Kempczinksi, who was named McDonald's president and CEO in late 2019, will succeed McDonald's Chairman Enrique Hernandez Jr., who is retiring after 28 years on the Chicago company's board. The transition will happen at the company's annual meeting, which is expected to be held in May.

    Historically, McDonald's CEOs have also held the position of chairman. Jim Skinner was McDonald's vice chairman and CEO from 2004-2012, for example.

    But the company's subsequent CEOs broke that pattern. Don Thompson served as president and CEO from 2012-2015, while Steve Easterbrook was president and CEO from 2015-2019. Kempczinski took over as president and CEO after Easterbrook was fired for having a non-physical, consensual relationship with an employee.

    Kempczinski joined McDonald's in 2015 as executive vice president of strategy, business development and innovation. Prior to that, he spent more than 25 years in senior positions at Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and Kraft.

    "Having served alongside Chris, who is now in his fifth year as CEO, I know he is uniquely placed to unify the two roles of CEO and chairman to ensure McDonald's advances in lockstep with today's ever-changing business and social landscape," Hernandez said in a statement.

    McDonald's also announced the nomination of Mike Hsu, the chairman and CEO of Kimberly-Clark Corp., as an independent director on the board.

    Kempczinski said Hsu is a veteran of the consumer products industry with a global perspective, which will help McDonald's as it embarks on a period of unprecedented growth. In December, the company announced a plan to open nearly 10,000 McDonald's restaurants worldwide over the next four years.

    McDonald's noted that the board would maintain its status of 50% or more of its members representing diverse backgrounds after the changes.

    Dee-Ann Durbin is an AP business writer

    Tags:Chris KempczinksiMcDonald's



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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