Who Owns McDonald's? Largest MCD Stock Shareholders

“I’m lovin it”; a globally known, or rather chanted, slogan, belonging to none other than fast-food chain McDonald’s. With an extensive network of restaurants across the world, McDonald’s has established itself as one of the biggest names in the industry. This overview details the institutional and individual shareholders who hold the largest stakes in McDonald’s.

Key Takeaways 

• McDonald’s is the world’s biggest fast-food chain, operating in 41,822 locations globally. 
• McDonald’s went public in 1965 and had its IPO priced at $22.50. 
• The company has 721,800,000 outstanding shares, with 72% held by institutional investors. 
• The major institutional McDonald’s shareholders include The Vanguard Group, BlackRock and State Street Corp. 
• The largest individual McDonald’s shareholders include Kevin Ozan, Stephen Easterbrook and John Rogers, Jr.. 

McDonald's Ownership History

With its iconic golden arches, logo and memorable slogan, McDonald's (MCD) has established a loyal customer base over 84 years. Founded in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald in California, the fast-food chain is now operating globally and has claimed the title of the largest fast-food chain in the world. As of last year, the franchise counted 41,822 locations. 

The company listed its shares in 1965 and has become a public company since then. Its IPO priced the shares at $22.50 per share, reaching $30 the same day. Currently, MCD shares go for $271.19, meaning the price has increased nearly ten times in the last 60 years. 

The company’s ownership structure can be split into two: institutional shareholders and individual shareholders. McDonald’s has 721,800,000 outstanding shares, with 72% held by institutional shareholders. The individual shareholders are mostly insiders and employees. 

Largest Institutional Shareholders 

72% of McDonald’s shareholders are institutional shareholders. Below are the largest institutional shareholders who own McDonald’s. 

1. Vanguard Group

Holding $9,3 trillion in assets, this asset management company is the second largest in the world, just after BlackRock. Vanguard Group was founded in 1975 by John C. Bogle, who at the time had experience at Wellington’s mutual funds. Vanguard is owned by the funds/assets of its clients, meaning that it is indirectly owned by its clients. The biggest shareholders in this company have the largest assets managed by Vanguard. The company owns 69,043,882 McDonald’s shares with a value of $18.7 billion, making it McDonald’s largest shareholder. This means 9.52% of the company is owned by them.   

2. BlackRock

Unlike Vanguard Group, BlackRock puts its focus more on investment and risk management but managed to accumulate $10 trillion in assets, making BlackRock the biggest asset manager in the world. Since 1988 founded company has offered advisory services and promises its clients to invest in their future. BlackRock’s mission is to give everyone individuals reign over their current and future assets and educate them where necessary. Their 7.20% share in McDonald’s is worth $14.09 billion, which is equal to 51,974,467 shares. 

3. State Street Corp

In addition to the services offered by the companies above, State Street classifies itself as a financial services provider, with many banking characteristics tied to its name. The company has existed for 64 years now, since its founding in 1960, and managed to claim the title of largest custodian bank in the world. The publicly owned company is based in Boston Massachusetts USA, but operates globally. State Street owns 4.8% of the McDonald’s company, which means that they have ownership over 34,598,464 shares with a worth of about $9.4 billion. 

Largest Individual Shareholders 

The other part of the 721,800,000 outstanding shares is owned by individual shareholders. Below are the largest individual shareholders who own McDonald’s.  

1. Kevin Ozan 

Ozan has been a long-term employee of McDonald’s, celebrating 27 years with the company. He first joined McDonald’s in 1997 to serve different functions in the accounting and finance field. He went on to grow with the company and managed to climb to higher positions including Assistant Controller, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Kevin Ozan’s current position in the McDonald’s company, achieved in 2022, is Senior Executive Vice President and head of strategic initiatives. Ozan owns 21,581 MCD shares, worth around $6 million, meaning he has ownership over 0.003% of the company.

2. Stephen Easterbrook

Former CEO and Chief executive of McDonald’s Easterbrook joined McDonald’s in 2015. This was not his first time with the company, as he had already served as a manager in London in 1993. However, his second attempt to stick with the McDonald’s company was cut short, as he was dismissed in 2019. This was due to inappropriate relations Easterbrook had with employees, which is against company policy. Besides McDonald’s, Stephen Easterbrook also worked for Pizza Express and Wagamama. His current share of the company is worth $11 million, which translates to 41,022 shares: 0.006% of the company.

3. John Rogers, Jr.

Being on McDonald’s board of directors for 20 years (since 2003), Rogers Jr. made a lot of impact on the company’s efforts to achieve equitable opportunities and diversity but left the company last year at the same time as fellow board member Robert A. Eckert. In addition to his participation in the McDonald’s board, Rogers was also a board member for the Aon corporation, the Exelon corporation and Nike. The focus in his career was however founding Ariel Capital Management in 1983 and he is currently the company’s chairman and CEO. Rogers Jr. is the largest individual McDonald’s shareholder with 88,600 MCD shares to his name. His 0.012% share in the company is worth over $24 million. 

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Conclusion 

McDonald’s is the biggest fast-food chain in the world, with many locations worldwide. The company was founded in 1940 by the McDonald’s brothers and had its IPO 25 years later. Now in 2024, the global company has reached a stock price of $271.19, more than ten times its initial price. McDonald’s is mostly institutionally owned, but individual shareholders own shares in the company as well. The biggest institutional McDonald’s shareholder is Vanguard Group and the biggest individual McDonald’s shareholder is John Rogers Jr..

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