By: Alina Selyukh
November 5, 2019
Former McDonald’s CEO Stephen Easterbrook is getting an exit package of almost $42 million after his relationship with an employee was found to violate company policy. The size of his compensation puts a new focus on the widening gap between the pay at the top and the bottom of the corporate ladder.
According to an analysis by executive-compensation experts at Equilar, Easterbrook’s exit package totals $41.8 million, which includes six months of severance pay, shares he can cash out in the future and other equity. And that amount is in addition to $23.8 million in stock options that Easterbrook can exercise now.
“Wow, he is walking away with a lot of money,” says Cornell Law School professor Stewart Schwab, an expert on employment law. “And it comes out as part of the story of just, wow, [the] 1% gets a lot more money than the rest of the workers in this economy.”