[Deathwatch] James Richard Cantalupo, McDonald's CEO, 60

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

James R. Cantalupo, Chief of McDonald's, Dies at 60
By WOLFGANG SAXON

Published: April 20, 2004

James Richard Cantalupo, an accountant who planted the arches of
McDonald's on foreign soil before being called out of retirement to
help the company at home as chairman and chief executive, died
unexpectedly yesterday in Orlando, Fla. He was 60 and lived in Oak
Brook, Ill., outside Chicago.

The cause was apparently a heart attack, according to an announcement
from the McDonald's Corporation, where Mr. Cantalupo had been at the
helm for 16 months. The announcement said he was in Orlando for the
chain's international owner and operator convention.

Mr. Cantalupo was president of McDonald's International from 1987 to
1997, presiding over a big expansion overseas. He brought Big Macs and
Chicken McNuggets to markets from the former Soviet Union to Hong Kong
and Qatar.

Under Mr. Cantalupo, the roster of countries with McDonald's
restaurants rose to 118 from 47. By its current count, McDonald's has
more than 30,000 outlets in 119 countries, serving about 47 million
customers a day.

Growth overseas vastly outpaced the performance in the United States
and cemented the company's position as the biggest fast-food operation
in the world. But at home, competition and the growing recognition of
obesity as a national health problem took its toll on the corporate
bottom line. Mr. Cantalupo, who retired in 2001, was called back to try
to repeat in the United States what he had done abroad.

He was credited with turning McDonald's around by concentrating on
better service and, catering to the awakening health-awareness of the
American consumer.

Just last month, flanked by top executives, Mr. Cantalupo reviewed the
initial successes of his revitalization efforts. And last Thursday,
McDonald's presented a "Bold Balanced Lifestyles Platform" that
acknowledged customers' problems with fast, big helpings of fatty
foods. The program offered to help adults achieve the right balance
between calorie intake and exercise and to help children "adopt active,
balanced lifestyle habits."

Mr. Cantalupo had lost weight in recent years and appeared fit after
having been overweight in the 1990's, said Dick Adams, a former
McDonald's executive and a franchisee consultant, according to The
Associated Press. Mr. Adams said international travel has taken a toll
on industry executives.

"He was doing an extensive amount of international travel," Mr. Adams
said, according to The A.P. "That's about the most stressful thing you
can do to yourself."

Mr. Cantalupo is survived by his wife of 30 years, JoAnn Lucero
Cantalupo; a daughter, Christine; and a son, Jeffrey.

James Cantalupo was born in Oak Park, Ill., and graduated with a degree
in accounting from the University of Illinois. A certified public
accountant, he worked for Arthur Young & Company for eight years before
joining McDonald's as controller in 1974.

He was promoted to vice president in 1975 and was senior vice president
and controller from 1981 to 1985. After stints as district manager for
the Chicago region, and zone manager for the Northeast, he took on the
burgeoning international division in 1987.

He next became chairman and chief executive of that division and in
1999 was named vice chairman and president of the McDonald's
Corporation. Two years later, he announced his intention to retire.

The company was then undergoing a major management shake-up. Its
chairman and chief executive, Jack M. Greenberg, who had earlier
pledged to remain in charge for at least three more years, retired at
the end of 2002. Mr. Cantalupo was asked to return at that time.

"We don't want McDonald's to look and feel 50 years old to our
customers," he told an audience of Wall Street analysts last month. "We
want McDonald's to be forever young."