Second McDonald's executive out after CEO fired - CP24 Toronto's Breaking News

Dee-Ann Durbin, The Associated Press
Published Monday, November 4, 2019 11:38PM EST

McDonald's lost its top human resources executive Monday, days after the company's CEO was fired for having a relationship with an employee.

The Chicago-based burger giant said the departure of Chief People Officer David Fairhurst was unrelated to the exit of President and CEO Steve Easterbrook. The British businessmen are close friends; Fairhurst was promoted to his position in 2015 after Easterbrook became CEO.

“I have decided the time has come for me to move on to my next career challenge,” Fairhurst said in a statement posted on his LinkedIn page.

McDonald's announced Sunday that Easterbrook was fired for violating company policy by having a consensual relationship with an employee.

In an email to employees, Easterbrook - who is divorced - acknowledged the relationship and said it was a mistake.

“Given the values of the company, I agree with the board that it is time for me to move on,” Easterbrook said in the email.

McDonald's would not provide details about the employee with whom Easterbrook was involved. An attorney for Easterbrook declined to answer questions.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, McDonald's said Easterbrook will receive six months' pay but forfeit millions in unvested stock options as part of his severance agreement.

Easterbrook's 2018 compensation totalled $15.9 million. That included $1.3 million in salary and the rest in stock options and incentive payments.

Under his severance agreement, Easterbrook will be eligible for a prorated incentive payment for the 2019 fiscal year. He can also exercise stock options that have vested or will vest within three years.

At the end of 2018, Easterbrook had unvested options worth $21.8 million.

Easterbrook is also forbidden from working for a competitor for two years.

McDonald's board named Chris Kempczinski as the company's new president and CEO. Kempczinski most recently served as president of McDonald's U.S. division.

McDonald's Corp. said Monday that Kempczinski's base salary will be $1.25 million, or 58% higher than his 2018 compensation.

Analysts said Monday that Kempczinski - who joined McDonald's from Kraft in 2015 - will likely follow the path laid out by Easterbrook, including redesigning U.S. stores to make them more digitally savvy and testing voice-based technology at drive-thrus.

“We believe these initiatives will continue largely unchanged and Mr. Kempczinski's legacy will hinge on his ability to generate traffic growth in the U.S., which neither of his two predecessors were able to achieve,” BTIG Managing Director Peter Saleh said in a note to investors.

McDonald' shares fell 3% to $187.60 in afternoon trading.

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November 05, 2019 at 11:38AM

Oil gains on optimism over U.S.-China trade deal - CNBC

Workers cross walkways between zones aboard an offshore oil platform in the Persian Gulf's Salman Oil Field, near Lavan island, Iran, on Jan. 5. 2017.

Ali Mohammadi | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Oil prices rose on Tuesday on hopes for a U.S.-China trade agreement and optimism that Washington could roll back some of the tariffs it has imposed on Chinese imports.

Brent crude futures were up 51 cents at $62.64 a barrel after gaining 0.7% in the previous session.

U.S. crude futures were up 42 cents at $56.96 a barrel. They gained 0.6% on Monday.

China is pushing U.S. President Donald Trump to remove more tariffs imposed in September as part of a so-called Phase 1 deal, which would help to ease the broad economic damage inflicted by the trade dispute between the world's two biggest oil consumers.

"If some of the existing tariffs were to be dismantled, that should restore some measure of global demand for oil as economic and trade conditions recover," said Han Tan, market analyst at FXTM.

OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said the oil market outlook for 2020 may be brighter than previously forecast, appearing to downplay any need for deeper production cuts.

"Based on the preliminary numbers, 2020 looks like it will have upside potential," Barkindo told a briefing.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) also said it would supply a diminishing amount of oil in the next five years as output increases from U.S. shale deposits and elsewhere.

OPEC's production of crude oil and other liquids is expected to decline to 32.8 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2024, the group said in its 2019 World Oil Outlook.

Investors are also awaiting U.S. inventory data due later on Tuesday.

U.S. crude oil inventories were forecast to have risen last week, while refined products stocks are likely to have declined, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate cut last week, recent weakness in the dollar and improved U.S. jobs growth in October also provided support, analysts said.

"We believe that the strength in oil prices will be short-lived, given the scale of the surplus that is expected over the 1H20," ING analyst Warren Patterson said, referring to the first half of 2020.

"The risk to this view is if OPEC+ surprises the market in December by announcing even deeper than expected cuts for 2020."

OPEC, Russia and other producers, a group known as OPEC+, have implemented a deal to cut oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day from the start of this year.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh on Monday said he expects further production cuts to be agreed at the next meeting of the group in December.

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November 05, 2019 at 09:44AM

US-China trade deal hopes boost global markets - Al Jazeera America

Asian shares rose to 14-week highs on Monday as growing optimism over China-United States trade talks and upbeat US jobs data boosted global investors' appetite for riskier assets.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.55 percent in early trade, having earlier touched its highest level since July 29.

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Australian shares were up 0.3 percent and Seoul's Kospi added 1.3 percent. Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.

The US and China both said on Friday that they had made progress in talks aimed at defusing their protracted 16-month-long trade war, and US officials said a deal could be signed this month.

But in a morning note, analysts at National Australia Bank sounded a note of caution.

"As much as the US-China trade updates continue to point to a Phase 1 deal looking like a certainty, the contentious issues on whether the US will cancel the planned December tariffs and remove some of the current tariffs in line with China's demands remains an unknown and if the issue is not resolved then a deal could easily collapse," they said.

In comments on Friday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said tariffs set to kick in on December 15, which would cover Chinese imports such as laptops, toys and electronics, would remain on the table, and the decision whether to cancel them would be made by US President Donald Trump.

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told the Bloomberg news agency he is optimistic that a limited trade deal, which US President Donald Trump has termed Phase One, could be reached this month.

Any lingering uncertainty over the outlook for trade talks was not enough to keep the S&P 500 from gaining 0.97 percent and the Nasdaq rising 1.13 percent to fresh record closing highs on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.11 percent.

On Monday, US S&P 500 e-mini stock futures were up 0.15 percent at 3,067.8.

US job growth slowed less than expected in October and hiring in the prior two months was stronger than previously estimated, data from the Labor Department showed on Friday.

Those numbers followed a private survey of manufacturers in China that showed better-than-expected factory activity in October.

Oil prices, which had surged on hopes for a US-China trade deal, were lower on Monday. Global benchmark Brent crude was off 0.49 percent at $61.39 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude was 0.46 percent lower at $55.94.

In the currency market, the dollar was up 0.04 percent against the yen to 108.21, and the euro was unchanged, buying $1.1165.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was down slightly at 97.215.

Gold was slightly lower as investors moved into riskier assets. Spot gold was trading at $1,512.42 per ounce, down 0.07 percent.

SOURCE: Reuters news agency

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November 04, 2019 at 10:29AM

Toronto home prices rise in October as listings plunge 18.8% - BNNBloomberg.ca

The number of homes up for grabs in Canada’s largest housing market shrank again in October, prompting another warning from the regional real estate board that price growth could heat up. 

There were 15,375 active listings across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in October, marking an 18.8 per cent decline compared to a year earlier, according to data released by the Toronto Real Estate Board Tuesday morning.  

Meanwhile, sales rose 14 per cent year-over-year as 8,491 properties traded hands in the month.

The twin forces of shrinking supply and increased selling activity helped advance the average selling price by 5.5 per cent to $852,142. 

“As market conditions in the GTA have steadily tightened throughout 2019, we have seen an acceleration in the annual rate of price growth,” said TREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer in a release.

“While the current pace of price growth remains moderate, we will likely see stronger price growth moving forward if sales growth continues to outpace listings growth, leading to more competition between home buyers.”

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November 05, 2019 at 05:00PM

Fired McDonald's CEO steps down from Walmart board - Fox Business

Former Ted Cruz campaign pollster Chris Wilson, Stanford School of Business lecturer Dave Dodson and Politico congressional reporter Melanie Zanona discuss the firing of McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook and Chief People Officer David Fairhurst over Easterbrook’s romantic relationship with a subordinate.

Ousted McDonald’s CEO Stephen Easterbrook has stepped down as a member of Walmart's board of directors.

Continue Reading Below

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Easterbrook informed the company Monday of his decision to resign effective immediately after joining the board in 2018.

Walmart declined to comment on the matter.

Steve Easterbook (Credit: McDonald's)

Easterbrook is one of a dozen board members currently listed on the company's website who ensure "Walmart operates with integrity and accountability."

He was fired from McDonald's after violating company policy by engaging in a consensual relationship with an employee, the company said.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
MCD	MCDONALD'S CORP.	188.66	-5.28	-2.72%

MCDONALD’S FIRES CEO FOR INAPPROPRIATE RELATIONSHIP WITH EMPLOYEE

The fast-food giant said Easterbrook demonstrated poor judgment, and that McDonald’s forbids managers from having romantic relationships with direct or indirect subordinates.

READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS BY CLICKING HERE

In an email to employees, Easterbrook acknowledged he had a relationship with an employee and said it was a mistake.

According to Monday's filing, his decision to resign from Walmart was not due to "any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to its operations, policies or practice."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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2019-11-05 11:37:42Z
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'We created a monster,' SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son reportedly said of WeWork - Business Insider UK

• Masayoshi Son, CEO of Japanese mega-investor SoftBank, told colleagues that "we created a monster" in WeWork, the Financial Times reported.
• SoftBank will on Wednesday impose stricter governance standards on dual-class share structures after the WeWork fiasco, the FT said.
• SoftBank is expected to take a multibillion dollar writedown on WeWork, the FT said. 
• View Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

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Masayoshi Son, CEO of Japanese mega-investor SoftBank, told colleagues that "we created a monster" in WeWork after investing billions into the firm only to later bail it out, the Financial Times reported.

SoftBank last month bailed out the cash-strapped real estate firm to the tune of just over $8 billion, with an accelerated payment of $1.5 billion just to ensure the company didn't run out of money. SoftBank being one of the company's main backers, is now under scrutiny for the way it invests.

The FT also separately reported, citing unnamed sources, that SoftBank will on Wednesday impose stricter governance standards on dual-class share structures after the WeWork fiasco — an about-face for Son who the newspaper says is "known as a risk-addicted dealmaker." 

SoftBank is expected to take a multibillion dollar writedown on WeWork, the FT said. 

Prior to the bailout, SoftBank had invested more than $10 billion in WeWork and the office-sharing firm was valued at $47 billion at its peak. The firm planned to IPO and backers dreamed of a valuation of more than $100 billion.

But intense scrutiny over WeWork's governance and business model resulted in the firm indefinitely delaying its IPO, and its idiosyncratic cofounder Adam Neumann stepping down as CEO in September, followed by the bail out last month.

Son, the Financial Times cited a person close to him as saying, has been shaken by the ordeal. The Japanese magnate has said little publicly about WeWork since the funding deal, although he has said that he is "embarrassed" in general by SoftBank's missteps.

"We created a monster," Son told colleagues, according to the paper. And in reference to Neumann: "We gave him all the capital."

This, along with Uber, which has lost more than a quarter in value since going public, and according to CNBC cost the Japanese firm $600 million so far, is leading to investors worrying about the real value of SoftBank's ventures. 

"If SoftBank says this is the value, how much of that should you believe?" the FT cited Kirk Boodry, a technology analyst at Redex Holdings who publishes on Smartkarma, a research platform, as saying. 

WeWork and SoftBank did not immediately respond to a Business Insider request for comment. 

Read the Financial Times' report here.

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2019-11-05 10:50:42Z
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Facebook changes product branding to FACEBOOK - BBC News

Facebook is introducing new branding for its products and services in an attempt to distinguish the company from its familiar app and website.

Instagram and WhatsApp are among the services that will carry the new FACEBOOK brand in the next few weeks.

The main Facebook app and website will retain its familiar blue branding.

The new logo, which is in capital letters, uses "custom typography" and "rounded corners" so the company's other products and app look different.

The branding also appears in different colours depending on which product it represents. So, for example, it will be green for WhatsApp.

"We wanted the brand to connect thoughtfully with the world and the people in it," Facebook said. "The dynamic colour system does this by taking on the colour of its environment."

Facebook's chief marketing officer Antonio Lucio said: "People should know which companies make the products they use. We started being clearer about the products and services that are part of Facebook years ago.

"This brand change is a way to better communicate our ownership structure to the people and businesses who use our services to connect, share, build community and grow their audiences."

US Senator Elizabeth Warren has said she wants to break up the big tech companies such as Facebook, Amazon and Google and put them under tougher regulation.

This plan may be seen as Facebook's way of hitting back, although Ms Warren - posting on Facebook - said: "Facebook can rebrand all they want, but they can't hide the fact that they are too big and powerful. It's time to break up Big Tech."

Does rebranding always work?

Several other big companies have tried rebranding in the past:

• In 2001, British Airways turned tail on its plans to remove the red, white and blue Union flag from its aircraft and replace it with "world images"
• In the same year, Royal Mail rebranded as Consignia, only to swap back again a year later
• Dunkin' Donuts dropped the "Donuts" from its name last year to try to move more into the coffee industry and its share price has continued to rise
• The parent company of Paddy Power and Betfair started trading under the new name Flutter Entertainment in May this year. It said the new name "better reflected the diversity of the group".

Facebook has come under criticism recently over a variety of issues.

Its boss Mark Zuckerberg had to face US lawmakers last month to explain the company's policy on not fact-checking political adverts.

He also had to defend plans for a digital currency, talk about the social network's failure to stop child exploitation on the network, and was quizzed over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.

Earlier in the year, Mr Zuckerberg said the firm was going to make changes to its social platforms to enhance privacy.

These included messages sent via Messenger being end-to-end encrypted, and hiding the number of likes an Instagram post receives from everyone but the person who shared it.

'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'

Manfred Abraham, chief executive of consultancy Brandcap, told the BBC: "I'm sure this will be a successful move for Facebook. After all, the parent brand remains strong, despite recent troubles, and reminding consumers that Instagram etc are all Facebook companies will assist with cross-membership.

"The rebrand is unsurprising as it is following a trend - that of simplification. Many organisations are choosing a strong, but pared-back visual identify and are shrugging off 'flair' in favour of plain."

However, Mr Abraham thought Facebook was correct to leave the logo on its flagship social media platform as it is.

"Facebook's main site doesn't need a rebrand. The old adage is true: if it ain't broke don't fix it."

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2019-11-05 11:29:01Z
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