Overview
- Skye Anderson was appointed president of McDonald’s USA effective Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, taking the role immediately after serving as U.S. chief operating officer.
- Joe Erlinger is leaving the president role and will remain with McDonald’s as an advisor to support the handoff through early 2027.
- McDonald’s made the change after reporting Q2 U.S. same-store sales growth of 0.8% and falling traffic, with CEO Chris Kempczinski saying the company had execution lapses that hurt results.
- Anderson brings 26 years at McDonald’s and is credited with creating Global Business Services and driving more than 30% same-store sales growth and roughly $100,000 higher per-store cash flow in the West Zone during a four-year run.
- Her charge is to accelerate rollout of McDonald’s NEXT — focusing on clearer promotions, stronger value offerings and improved restaurant operations — a move that will depend on cooperation from franchise owner-operators and aims to lift customer traffic and per-store cash flow.