Founder Doctrine · McDonald's · 2012 · 1:02

Carl Icahn ran a McDonald's proxy fight on 200 shares.

In 2012 McDonald's pledged to phase out gestation stalls by 2022. It expected to reach 85% to 90%. Carl Icahn ran a proxy fight on 200 shares and lost, but the fight cost roughly $16 million.

Transcript

$16 million. That is what McDonald's expected to spend fighting a proxy contest over a promise it made a decade earlier.

In February 2012, McDonald's stood beside the Humane Society and pledged to phase gestation stalls out of its U.S. pork supply, with a target of 2022.

McDonald's said it expected 85% to 90% of its U.S. pork to come from sows not housed in crates during pregnancy by the end of 2022. 100% moved to 2024.

That gap let Carl Icahn run a proxy fight on 200 shares. He lost, 490 million to 9 million.

A public, dated pledge is an option anyone can exercise later, for the price of a few shares. Make the promise if you mean it, and track it like a debt.

The records behind this video

Every figure in the video comes from this Decision Record, each with its sources.

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