Chris Kempczinski

Christopher John Kempczinski (born 1968) is an American business executive and the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of McDonald's Corp (MCD). 

Kempczinski was born in Boston, and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the son of Richard Kempczinski, who was Professor of Surgery and Chief of Vascular Surgery at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, and Ann Marie Kempczinski (née Campbell), who was a primary school teacher at Terrace Park Elementary in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated in 1987 from Indian Hill High School in suburban Cincinnati.

Kempczinski earned a bachelor's degree from Duke University in 1991, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1997.

Kempczinski started his career with Procter & Gamble (PG) in brand management, and worked for four years in its soap sector division, before leaving to attend Harvard Business School (HBS). After HBS he became a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, focusing on consumer products and pharmaceuticals.

In 2000, Kempczinski joined PepsiCo (PEP) in its corporate strategy & development group, and in 2006, was VP, Marketing, Non Carbonated Beverages, Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages.

Before joining McDonald's, Kempczinski worked for Kraft Foods (KHC) as executive vice president of growth initiatives, and president of Kraft International. He left Kraft in September 2015.

Kempczinski joined the McDonald's global strategy team in late 2015, and was promoted to president of McDonald's USA in October 2016 where he oversaw the business operations of approximately 14,000 restaurants. In November 2019, he succeeded Steve Easterbrook as president and CEO. 

In 2021, Kempczincki apologized to employees and the public for private remarks he made about the gun deaths of children at McDonald's. In correspondence with Mayor Lightfoot of Chicago, he blamed parents of the victims: “With both, the parents failed those kids which I know is something you can’t say. Even harder to fix.” Publication of the exchange "sparked outrage." Chicago civic groups and the Service Employees International Union demanded Kempczinski apologize, saying “Your text message was ignorant, racist and unacceptable coming from anyone, let alone the CEO of McDonald’s.” 

Kempczinski is married with two children. He has run marathons,[21] and as of 2020 was running at least 50 miles a week.