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McDonald's Cantalupo dies of heart attack
Jim Cantalupo, chair and CEO of iconic fast food chain, McDonald's, has died of an apparent heart attack.
The company reported that his death occured "suddenly and unexpectedly" on 19 April at the McDonald's Worldwide Owner/ Operator Convention being held in Orlando, Florida.
Cantalupo joined McDonald's as a controller in 1974 and rose to become president and chief executive officer by the time of his retirement in 2002.
However, he came out of retirement in January 2003 – succeeding CEO, Jack Greenberg – in an attempt to reverse falling sales, the company having reported the first quarterly loss in its history at the end of the previous year.
In his time back in office, Cantalupo slowed the company's breakneck expansion programme, closed underperforming sites, introduced both a range of healthier meals and a move away from calorie-laden super-size helpings and began to focus McDonald's on being better rather than bigger.
As a result, he was able to announce comparable U.S. sales for March and the first quarter of 2004 enjoying a rise of 9.9 and 14.2 per cent respectively.
McDonald's has announced that Charlie Bell, previously president and chief operating officer, will take over as president and CEO, with Andrew McKenna, the board's presiding director, being elected non-executive chair of the board.