Topic: ContractsIn 2015, McDonald's, your favorite be-arched hamburger chain was seeing its stock prices stagnate and fall as it endured 6 consecutive quarters of declining sales. To stem the bleeding, a new CEO search landed on and hired Mr. Steven Easterbrook, who had previously been in charge of the UK markets. The February 27, 2015 stock price of $98.90 per share skyrocketed under Easterbrook so that on February 28, 2018, the stock price was $157.74.By November 2019, Easterbrook had taken the company through what was dubbed, the "Turnaround Plan" and had entered the "Velocity Growth Plan." The October 2019 stock price hit $196.70, double what he had inherited just 4 years previous. MCD had enjoyed 17 consecutive quarters of growth. Yearly sales were $4 Billion and every indicator was pointed up, from consumer and shareholder confidence metrics, to technology, and franchising. And then, it was not.Easterbrook, despite his tremendous capabilities and demonstrative successes broke numerous ethical boundaries by having a sexual relationship with an employee. Steve Easterbrook admitted in an email that he "demonstrated poor judgment involving a recent consensual relationship with an employee." Pursuant to that relationship being uncovered, the board of directors and Easterbrook agreed to part ways and Easterbrook via a Separation Agreement and General Release and was issued a severance package that was at the time valued at $55 Million.In a complaint filed in August 2020, McDonald's Corporation sought to rescind the Separation Agreement under the ground that Easterbrook had fraudulently induced the board into entering into an agreement that was more beneficial to Easterbrook than it should have been. The reason being that Easterbrook was found to have had other relationships with employees and had not disclosed those as part of the separation process.In January 2022, Easterbrook at McDonald's Corporation agreed to a settlement of that suit that the Severance Package would be repaid by Easterbrook. That package was valued at $105M of cash and stock, but there was no way of knowing what that split was as to cash and stock.

Microsoft Start MCDONALD'S CORPORATION + MARKET OPEN ALL TIME . AS OF MAR 22, 11:43 AM 270.80 +0.59 EDT (+0.22%) +268.29 (+10,536.61%) Summary Financials Analysis Earnings 1D 5D 1M 3M YTD 1Y 3Y 5' M Interval: 3 Months 250.00 200.00 150.00 100.00 50.00 0.00 2003 2023 Q Compare: . 50M MA X 10M MA X DRI YUM DPZ 153.50 0.70% 128.76 0.16% 315.41 Day Range 52 Week Range 269.45 271.25 228.34 281.67 Open 269.45 Previous Close O 270.21 Average Volume 2.81M Market Cap O 198 11B Shares Outstanding 7 EPS (TTM) 8.34