Feds charge former McDonald's CEO with misleading investors

Former McDonald's CEO Stephen Easterbrook has been charged by federal regulators with making false and misleading statements to investors about the circumstances of firing by the burger giant in November 2019.

Easterbrook was ousted for engaging in an inappropriate personal relationship with a McDonald's employee in violation of company policy, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in its order Monday, but the separation agreement with McDonald's concluded that his termination was without cause, which allowed him to keep substantial equity compensation that otherwise would have been forfeited.