McDonald's has announced a new CEO and, at the same time, has seen a 3.4 percent increase in market activity after months of lackluster prospectives for the job, USA Today reported.
Steve Easterbrook, 48, will be promoted from chief brand officer to CEO in order to replace Don Thompson, 51, who served as the current CEO. He was a 25-year veteran of the company and his term will end on March 1.
This signaled good news for investors, as their stocks increased by 3.4 percent in after-hours trading after Easterbrook's news was reported.
In his previous job as chief brand officer, Easterbrook watched the chain's advance menu innovation, global marketing and create ways to improve McDonald's technology.
The world's largest food chain was coming off of months of criticism and declines in sales. Stores in the U.S and abroad had seen a hit.
"I don't think it was too much of a surprise. Maybe in the timing but not the action," Sanford Bernstein analyst Sara Senatore said, according to Yahoo News. "This has been something that people have been talking about for a while."
Thompson first joined McDonald's as an electrical engineer in 1990 and became president of McDonald's USA and global chief operating officer before becoming CEO in 2012.
In 1993, Easterbrook joined the company and has been the president of Europe;s McDonald's division.
