Don Thompson (executive)

Last updated
Don Thompson
Born
Donald Thompson

(1963-03-30) March 30, 1963 (age 60)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Education Purdue University, 1984, B.S. (electrical engineering)
Occupation(s)Electrical engineer, Northrop Grumman (1985–1990)
McDonald's Executive (1990–2015)
CEO, McDonald's Corporation (2012–2015)
Board of directors Beyond Meat [1]

Donald Thompson (born March 30, 1963) is an American engineer and business executive who was the president and chief executive of McDonald's Corporation from 2012 until 2015. He announced on January 28, 2015, that he would retire from the company and leave his position on March 1, 2015, and was succeeded by Steve Easterbrook, the senior executive vice president and chief brand officer. [2] He is currently the CEO of Cleveland Avenue, an investment group and accelerator that focuses on building new food, beverage, and restaurant concepts, which he founded in 2015. [3] Cleveland Avenue has invested in Beyond Meat and Taste 222, among other food industry companies, and Thompson has served as a member of the board of directors at Beyond Meat since October 2015. [4] [3]

Contents

Early life

Thompson, who was born in Chicago, grew up near the Cabrini–Green housing project [5] [6] and was a bright student who started the sixth grade at the age of 10. In seventh grade he began carrying a briefcase to school. [7] Because of gang violence and crime that began to spread through the area in the late 1960s and 1970s, he was later moved by his grandmother to live with relatives in Indianapolis, where he attended North Central High School. [5]

Thompson is a graduate of Purdue University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1984 in electrical engineering. [8] He also holds an honorary doctorate from Excelsior College. Thompson is a brother of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. [9]

Career

Thompson is an electrical engineer by profession. He joined McDonald's in 1990 after working for a military aircraft manufacturer that is now part of Northrop Grumman. At McDonald's, Thompson designed robotic equipment for food transport and made control circuits for cooking. [10] Thompson received a call from a McDonald's recruiter who was looking for an engineer to design "robotics, control circuitry and feedback loops". He eventually accepted an invitation to visit the McDonald's headquarters in suburban Chicago by an engineer working there. Soon after the visit he was hired and enrolled in the company's Black Career Development program, classes that McDonald's has held since the 1970s both to educate all employees about cultural differences and to help minorities navigate its corporate culture. [7]

Having started his career at McDonald's in 1990, Thompson quickly rose on the corporate ladder. By 1992, he was promoted to Project Manager and Staff Director for the Quality Development department. He then switched over to Operations in 1994, spending his first six months learning the basics on how to manage a "McDonald's" restaurant by working at a South Chicago restaurant, moving up from fry cook to shift manager, then assistant manager and then co-manager. [7]

By 1998, Thompson was promoted to regional manager for the San Diego, California Region and oversaw 350 restaurants. He was next promoted to Senior Vice President of the Midwest Division, where he oversaw 2,200 restaurants. A subsequent promotion resulted in his becoming president of the West Division, giving him responsibility for 4,000 restaurants.[ citation needed ]

By January 2005, Thompson, now an Executive Vice President, began to serve as Chief Operations Officer (COO) of all US restaurants. On August 23, 2006, he became the President of McDonald's USA and McDonald's Restaurants of Canada. In 2007, Thompson stepped into the role of Chief Operating Officer for the global corporation, and on July 1, 2012, he became president and chief executive officer (CEO) of McDonald's Corp, succeeding outgoing CEO, the retiring Jim Skinner. However Thompson was not the first choice as successor, he was third having won the position when executives Michael Roberts and Ralph Alvarez left McDonald's in 2006 and 2009 respectively. [11]

Due to a 4.1 percent decline in customer traffic in 2014, Thompson announced that he was stepping down from his CEO position effective March 1, 2015. [12]

In 2014, Thompson and his wife co-founded the nonprofit organization, The Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education, and in 2015, the food and beverage venture capital firm, Cleveland Avenue LLC. Both of these names pay homage to the Chicago street where he and his wife grew up. [4] One of their nonprofit organization's largest initiatives is called The 1954 Project, which launched in 2020, and seeks to give $100M to help Black educators. [13]

In November 2015, it was announced that Thompson joined the board of directors of vegan meat alternative company Beyond Meat. [14]

Thompson also serves on the board of directors of Ronald McDonald House Charities, Catalyst, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. [15] He is also a member of Purdue University's board of trustees. [8]

Related Research Articles

A chief executive officer (CEO) is the highest officer charged with the management of an organization – especially a company or nonprofit institution.

Frederick Leo Turner was an American restaurant industry executive, chair and CEO of McDonald's. He is credited with helping to massively expand McDonald's, introducing new meals and setting service standards for the company and its employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CKE Restaurants</span> American restaurant company

CKE Restaurants Holdings is an American fast food corporation and is the parent organization for the Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Green Burrito, and Red Burrito brands. CKE Restaurants is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Bell (businessman)</span> Australian businessman

Charles Hamilton "Charlie" Bell AO was an Australian business executive. He served as president of the American-based fast-food chain McDonald's from December 2002, and additionally as chief executive officer from April to November 2004. Bell was the first non-American and the youngest person to hold that position.

Jack M. Greenberg was Chairman and CEO of McDonald's Corporation from 1999 through 2002, when he was replaced by James R. Cantalupo. He was promoted to CEO in 1998, succeeding Michael R. Quinlan in that role as Quinlan retained the title of Chairman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qdoba</span> Restaurant chain

Qdoba is a chain of fast casual restaurants in the United States and Canada serving Mexican-style cuisine. After 15 years as a wholly owned subsidiary of Jack in the Box, the company was sold to a consortium of funds led by Apollo Global Management in March 2018. In October 2022, Qdoba was acquired by Butterfly Equity. At the time of the acquisition, Qdoba had nearly 750 locations across North America. It is the No.2 player and No.1 franchisor of Mexican fast-casual dining in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McDonald's</span> American fast food restaurant corporation

McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger stand, and later turned the company into a franchise, with the Golden Arches logo being introduced in 1953 at a location in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1955, Ray Kroc, a businessman, joined the company as a franchise agent and in 1961 bought out the McDonald's. Previously headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, it moved to nearby Chicago in June 2018. McDonald's is also a real estate company through its ownership of around 70% of restaurant buildings and 45% of the underlying land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of McDonald's</span> Overview of the history of McDonalds

The American fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's was founded in 1940 and has since grown to the world's largest restaurant chain by revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lowell McAdam</span> American businessman (born 1954)

Lowell Clayton McAdam is an American businessman. He is the former chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications, a company he joined in 2000.

James Alan Skinner is an American business executive. He was the executive chairman of Walgreens Boots Alliance. He was the vice chairman and CEO of McDonald's Corporation.

Gregory David Wasson is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and president of Wasson Enterprise, a family-based investment office, the executive chairman of Innventure, co-founder of CoolerScreens, and the former president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA).

McDonald & Co. was a full-service investment firm based in Cleveland, Ohio, established in 1927. Internally, it was referred to as "McD" (mick-D). It was sold to hometown bank KeyCorp in 1998, but was eventually sold to the U.S. investment arm of Swiss banking giant UBS AG in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James McNerney</span>

Walter James "Jim" McNerney Jr. is a business executive who was President and CEO of The Boeing Company from June 2005 to July 2015. McNerney was also Chairman from June 2005 until March 1, 2016. McNerney oversaw development of the Boeing 737 MAX.

Jan Fields is an American business executive, who has served as president of McDonald’s USA and who has served on the board of directors for numerous corporations. Fields held every role in the management chain of McDonald's, beginning as a crew member, before becoming the president of McDonald's USA. She was recognized by Forbes Magazine in 2012 as one of the most powerful women in business and she was listed on The Wall Street Journal's 50 Women to Watch list.

LYFE Kitchen is an American fast-casual restaurant chain operating in Illinois. The company's name is an acronym that stands for "Love Your Food Everyday". LYFE promises functional, locally sourced foods and does not use artificial ingredients. They strive to use 100% biodegradable, compostable, recyclable packaging.

Stephen James Easterbrook is a British business executive. From March 2015 to November 2019, he was president and chief executive of McDonald's, the American fast food company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guzman y Gomez</span> Australian dining and fast-food chain

Guzman y Gomez (Holdings) Limited is an Australian multinational casual-dining and fast food restaurant chain. It specialises in Mexican cuisine with burritos, nachos, tacos, quesadillas and other Mexican-inspired items available. Many restaurants also serve coffee through the “Cafe Hola” brand which operates during the morning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Kempczinski</span> Chief executive officer (CEO) of McDonalds since 2019

Christopher John Kempczinski is an American business executive, and the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of McDonald's Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethan Brown (businessman)</span> American businessman (born 1971)

Ethan Walden Brown is an American executive, who is the founder, president and CEO of Beyond Meat. Before founding Beyond Meat, Brown worked on alternative energy and electricity grid restructuring at the National Governors Association's Center for Best Practices before joining fuel cell manufacturer Ballard Power Systems.

References

  1. ↑ "Donald Thompson | Board Member | Beyond Meat, Inc". investors.beyondmeat.com.
  2. ↑ "McDonald's CEO Don Thompson to Retire in March" Archived 2015-12-10 at the Wayback Machine Fox Business. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Donald Thompson | Board Member | Beyond Meat, Inc". investors.beyondmeat.com. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  4. 1 2 "Don Thompson's fake-meat fortune soars". Crain's Chicago Business. 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  5. 1 2 Smith, Bruce C. (March 23, 2012). "Purdue grad makes history as first black CEO at McDonald's". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  6. ↑ Harris, Melissa (March 23, 2012). "New McDonald's CEO stays true to his roots". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 Austen, Ben (Feb 9, 2015). "The Company Man: The Remarkable Rise and Fall of McDonald's CEO". Chicago magazine.
  8. 1 2 "Don Thompson". Purdue University Board of Trustees. Purdue University. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
  9. ↑ "Don Thompson". About McDonald's. 2015-02-28. Archived from the original on 2015-02-28. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  10. ↑ McDonald's new CEO Thompson a study in contrasts Reuters, March 24, 2012
  11. ↑ Sonnenfeld, Jeffrey (February 9, 2015). "McDonald's deserves a break today". Fortune. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  12. ↑ McDonald's CEO shakeup lifts stock, USA Today, January 29, 2015
  13. ↑ Ihejirika, Maudlyne (Apr 14, 2021). "Through family foundation, ex-McDonald's CEO adds education as focus in helping entrepreneurs". Chicago Sun Times.
  14. ↑ "Vegan company beefs up board with ex-McDonald's CEO". CBS News MoneyWatch. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "2013 CHICAGO UNITED CHICAGO BRIDGE AWARD RECIPIENT". Chicago United. Archived from the original on 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
Business positions
Preceded by CEO of McDonald's
2012–2015		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.