Carl Icahn speaks at Delivering Alpha in New York on September 13, 2016.
David A Grogan | CNBC
Carl Icahn on Thursday published his letter to McDonald’s shareholders, calling for compensation from the company’s top echelons and Wall Street firms for their ESG investing policies.
It’s the latest development in Icahn’s animal welfare battle with the fast-food chain over the treatment of pregnant pigs. The billionaire corporate robber is pushing to add two board seats with candidates who share his belief that McDonald’s should require all of its US suppliers to switch to “crate-free” pork. Icahn also fights a similar battle with Kroger.
Icahn began his letter by challenging wealth management firms for what he called “the greatest hypocrisy of our time.” He said big Wall Street firms, banks and lawyers are capitalizing on environmental, social and corporate governance investments for profits without supporting “tangible societal progress.”
“The reality is that if the ESG movement is to be more than a marketing concept and fundraising vehicle, the massive money managers who are among McDonald’s largest owners will need to back their words with action,” he wrote.
According to FactSet, McDonald’s top three shareholders are The Vanguard Group, State Street’s wealth management arm, and BlackRock.
Icahn also called McDonald’s management compensation “unscrupulous” and said the board condoned multiple forms of injustice.
“Perhaps we wouldn’t have this campaign if company executives put the same effort into getting their suppliers to go completely pregnancy box free as they do to get lavish compensation packages, we wouldn’t have this campaign.” have,” Icahn wrote.
McDonald’s says its US pork supply will be “crate-free” by the end of 2024, marking a two-year delay from a 2022 deadline set a decade ago. The company blames the Covid-19 pandemic and the outbreak of African swine fever for the postponement.
Icahn said in his letter that McDonald’s should have prioritized the issue earlier so it could stick to its original promise.
The burger chain expects that by the end of this year, 85% to 90% of its pork will come from sows that are not kept in gestation cages during gestation.
McDonald’s said in a regulatory filing that it expects to spend about $16 million on the proxy fight. Icahn even questioned the company’s decision to spend so much money.
“How many bastards would be spared the torture of gestation crates if the $16 million was spent on it, rather than on third parties hired by McDonald’s to solicit your votes ‘for’ the re-election of two of 12 board nominees who will chair in a multi-year failure to meet the company’s stated goals of promoting animal welfare in McDonald’s supply chain?” he wrote.
McDonald’s stockholders will vote on whether to elect Icahn’s nominees, Leslie Samuelrich and Maisie Ganzler, during the company’s annual meeting on May 26.
McDonald’s shares are up 10% over the past 12 months, giving the company a market value of around $190 billion.