McDonald's Urged By Major Investor To Pull 847 Restaurants From Russia
A major investor is urging fast-food chain McDonald’s to close restaurants that have any ties to supporting Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. This would include 847 McDonald’s that are invested in by New York state’s pension fund worth around $280 billion in assets.
The restaurants make up 84% of all McDonald’s in Russia and 9% of total revenue, according to McDonald’s Investment page.
"Pausing or ending McDonald's business operations in Russia would address various investment risks associated with the Russian market and play an important role in condemning Russia's role in fundamentally undermining the international order that is vital to a strong and healthy global economy," state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli stated Friday in a letter to McDonald's CEO Christoper Kempczinski.
McDonald’s is one of the few companies to continue services in Russia amid the invasion. There are only about 32 major companies that are operating as normal in Russia, according to a tally by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a management professor at Yale University.
DiNapoli believes in the importance of McDonald’s shutting down services in Russia is due to economic risks.
"Companies like McDonald's and PepsiCo, which have a large footprint in Russia, need to consider whether doing business in Russia is worth the risk during this extraordinarily volatile time," DiNapoli said.
"We're encouraging the companies we invest in to do a risk analysis and determine what is in the best interests of their company and their shareholders,” he said.
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