September 27, 2026

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Ex-McDonald’s CEO Repays $105M Severance Deal

Previous McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook has returned a severance bundle valued at $105 million to the company, ending an strange legal fight that erupted after he was fired for sexual misconduct.

McDonald’s announced on Thursday that it experienced settled the lawsuit it submitted from Easterbrook in August 2020 alleging he lied all through its interior investigation into his behavior. The board determined it would not terminate him “for lead to,” letting him to depart the company with the severance bundle.

“Under the settlement, Mr. Easterbrook has returned equity awards and income, with a latest price of above $105 million, which he would have forfeited experienced he been truthful at the time of his termination and, as a consequence, been terminated for lead to,” McDonald’s stated in a information release.

Easterbrook admitted that he “failed at occasions to uphold McDonald’s values and satisfy certain of my obligations as a chief of the company. I apologize to my former co-personnel, the board, and the company’s franchisees and suppliers for accomplishing so.”

As Restaurant Company reports, “The settlement finishes an incredible legal fight in between the world’s greatest cafe chain and a CEO mainly presented credit for helping the company arise from a years-long, post-recession malaise after he took above in 2015.”

Easterbrook was fired in November 2019 after the McDonald’s board observed he experienced a consensual marriage with an personnel. The board reopened its investigation after an personnel stated Easterbrook experienced a sexual marriage with a different subordinate while he was chief executive.

In its suit, McDonald’s alleged Easterbrook explained to investigators he only experienced one particular marriage with an personnel and that he deleted nude or sexually express pictures and video clips of females — including the woman personnel — from his phone just before it was searched by an outside the house investigator.

A clause in Easterbrook’s deal contained a provision that would allow McDonald’s recoup severance payments if it later established he must have been fired for lead to.

The settlement “holds Steve Easterbrook accountable for his obvious misconduct, including the way in which he exploited his posture as CEO,” McDonald’s Chairman Enrique Hernandez Jr. stated.

McDonalds, severance, Steve Easterbrook