Carl Icahn, a billionaire investor, has launched a proxy battle with McDonald’s over the fast food giant’s treatment of pigs, seeking two board seats at the global fast food giant.
According to a press release issued by McDonald’s on Sunday, Icahn has nominated Leslie Samuelrich and Maisie Ganzler for election at the company’s 2022 annual shareholder meeting.
“Mr. Icahn’s stated focus in making this nomination relates to a narrow issue concerning the company’s pork commitment, which the Humane Society U.S. has already introduced through a shareholder proposal,” McDonald’s explained.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Icahn, who helped define a new era of capitalism in the 1980s by taking over iconic companies such as Trans World Airlines, has pushed McDonald’s for better pig treatment in recent years. He is said to have called for the abolition of an industry practice that confines pregnant pigs in crates so they can’t move.
“Animals are one of the things I feel very strongly about,” Icahn previously told The Journal.
According to the release, the corporate raider has demanded that McDonald’s require all of its US suppliers to switch to “crate-free” pork. Pork is used in the fast food chain’s bacon cheeseburgers, breakfast offerings, and McRib sandwich.
“While the Company looks forward to promoting additional industry collaboration on this issue, the current pork supply in the United States would make this type of commitment impossible,” McDonald’s said. “Furthermore, it represents a departure from the veterinary science used for large-scale production across the industry, and would jeopardize the Company’s shared goal of providing customers with high-quality products at reasonable prices.”
According to the release, Icahn owns only 200 shares of McDonald’s stock. According to McDonald’s, he is also the majority owner of a company that provides packaging for the pork and poultry industries, which questioned why Icahn had not called on that company to make similar commitments.
McDonald’s stock closed Friday at $250.60, down slightly from the previous day.
