Billionaire Investor Carl Icahn Launches Proxy Fight Against This Fast Food Giant

Carl Icahn has launched a proxy fight with McDonald’s over the treatment of pigs. The move pushes for two board seats at the global fast food company.

McDonald’s said in a release over the weekend that Icahn has nominated Leslie Samuelrich and Maisie Ganzler for election at the company’s 2022 annual shareholder meeting.

The corporate raider has pushed McDonald’s to require all its U.S. suppliers to move to “crate-free” pork, according to the release.

“Mr. Icahn’s stated focus in making this nomination relates to a narrow issue regarding the company’s pork commitment, which the Humane Society U.S. has already introduced through a shareholder proposal,” McDonald’s said.

Icahn had been pushing McDonald’s for better treatment of pigs in recent years, according to The Wall Street Journal. The activist investor had called for the end of an industry practice that uses crates to house pregnant pigs so they can’t move.

“Animals are one of the things I feel really emotional about,” Icahn previously told The Journal.

He has demanded that McDonald’s require all its U.S. suppliers move to “crate-free” pork, according to the release. The fast-food chain uses pork in its bacon cheeseburgers, breakfast offerings and its McRib sandwich.

“While the Company looks forward to promoting further collaboration across the industry on this issue, the current pork supply in the U.S. would make this type of commitment impossible,” McDonald’s added.

“Furthermore, it reflects a departure from the veterinary science used for large-scale production throughout the industry, and would harm the Company’s shared pursuit of providing customers with high quality products at accessible prices.”

Icahn owns just 200 shares of McDonald’s stock. He is also the majority owner of a company that supplies packaging for the pork and poultry industry, according to McDonald’s.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.