McDonald's, the world's largest restaurant chain, yesterday named Mr Charlie Bell (43) as its new head after the sudden death of James Cantalupo (60), chairman and chief executive.
The swift appointment of Australian Mr Bell as chief executive calmed the nerves of investors who feared for the revival at McDonald's that Mr Cantalupo had overseen since he came out of retirement 16 months ago.
McDonald's also split the chairman and chief executive's roles, naming Mr Andrew McKenna (74), the presiding director of the board, as non-executive chairman. Mr Cantalupo suffered a suspected heart attack yesterday morning in Orlando, Florida, at a convention of McDonald's franchisees.
His death came just days after McDonald's announced its strongest quarterly sales figures for years, with worldwide same-store sales - from stores open at least a year, a key measure of retail health - up 9.4 per cent in January to March, including a 14.2 per cent increase in the US.
"We can never replace Jim's brilliance or leadership, but we will honour him by continuing his passion for McDonald's," the company said.
Mr Cantalupo had worked closely with Mr Bell, who was named chief operating officer at the same time Mr Cantalupo returned following the resignation of Mr Jack Greenberg in December 2002, and had been seen as the heir apparent.
Mr Bob Golden, executive vice-president of Technomic, a food-service consultancy in Chicago, said Mr Cantalupo had "clearly stabilised the organisation".
"McDonald's has gone from a company that a year and a half ago could not do a thing right to a company that almost can't do a thing wrong," he said.
Mr Cantalupo and Mr Bell focused on improving food and service at McDonald's 30,000 restaurants, revamped marketing and introduced new products.
While some of these initiatives were in train before Mr Cantalupo's return, he was credited with accelerating them and with slashing McDonald's store-opening programme and growth targets, allowing McDonald's to focus on existing operations.
His mantra became attracting more customers by being better, rather than being bigger.
Shares in the fast-food chain fell 71 cents to $26.75.
