McDonald’s Happy Deal and Activist Hedge Funds
August 12, 2010
• Stephen Taub
When McDonald’s earlier this week reported yet another strong period of same-store growth — up 7 percent in July — I thought of one person: Bill Ackman.
No, Bill is not the CEO. And he doesn’t even own shares of the fast food giant (although as of the most recent filing, he owned stakes in Yum Brands and Landry’s Restaurants).
Rather, I could only think back to 2005-2006, when the activist hedge fund manager, who founded Pershing Square Capital Management in 2003, began urging the then-stodgy company to make radical changes to jump start its stock. ....