EXCLUSIVE: Happy meal! Fired McDonald's CEO Steve Easterbrook splurged on trendy Asian dinner with his daughters in Chicago after being forced to pay back $105M over his sexual liaisons with staff
He is more than $100million poorer than he was just a couple of weeks ago, but that didn't stop former McDonald's boss Steve Easterbrook from splashing out on dinner for four.
Easterbrook, 54, was spotted last week for the first time since he agreed to return cash and stocks that he had been given after the fast food chain discovered he had had affairs with company underlings.
The British-born businessman was out and about in his adopted hometown of Chicago with his three daughters, Katie, Lauren, and Rebecca.
He took them first to Fadó, an Irish pub, where he regularly watches Watford, his favorite English Premier League soccer club, and then on to the trendy Sunda New Asian restaurant, where they dined on food far removed from the burgers and fries his former company serves.
Steve Easterbrook and his daughters, Rebecca, Katie and Lauren, took in the sights of Chicago's Miracle Mile after leaving his $2.5 million 19th floor luxury condo
The former McDonald's CEO last week dined with his daughters who flew in from England to spend the holidays with their father
The four stopped at Irish pub Fado before going for a nice dinner at Sunda New Asian restaurant
The foursome shared several dishes, including garlic noodles, dim sum and the restaurant's signature sushi rolls, the $25 Red Dragon and the $20 Panda.
Earlier in the day the family had been spotted walking around Chicago's Miracle Mile.
The three girls all dressed casually in white trainers, jeans, and coats, while Easterbrook wore a black puffer jacket and jeans, and sported a short beard that he has grown since leaving McDonald's.
The three girls — from Easterbrook's marriage to Susie Jennings which ended in divorce in 2015 — had flown in from England to spend the holidays with their father.
According to published reports, the two oldest, Katie and Lauren, attended the University of Bristol in southwest England.
They stayed with him at his luxurious 19th floor, $2.5million penthouse condo overlooking Millennium Park.
Steve Easterbrook wore a black puffer jacket and jeans, and sported a short beard that he has grown since leaving McDonald's two years ago
Easterbrook agreed to pay back $105 million compensation after McDonald's sued, His decision will avoid a court case which was to have begun in Delaware in May
The family group first went to Fadó Irish pub and then on to Sunda New Asian restaurant where they ate garlic noodles, dim sum and the signature sushi rolls
Easterbrook brought in Chrissy Teigen to be the face of the McDonald's Dollar Menu in the US. They are pictured in New York in 2017
McDonald's fired Easterbrook two years ago when the company discovered he had a non-sexual but close relationship with one worker. The board ruled he was axed without cause which entitled him to nearly $42million in compensation, benefits and stock.
At the time, the company claims, he denied he had had affairs 'physical or non-physical' with any other McDonald's worker.
Eassterbrook even agreed with the decision, sending an email to all staff saying: 'Given the values of the company, I agree with the board that it is the time to move on.'
Eight months later, board chairman Enrique Hernandez got a tip that Easterbrook had been seeing another employee and after an internal probe, McDonald's discovered emails and messages with nude photos and videos confirming affairs with at least two other employees.
Former lover Denise Paleothodoros told DailyMail.com: 'The Steve I knew is normal, a guy's guy. He's into sports and likes to drink beer'
Easterbrook, was spotted for the first time since he agreed to return cash and stocks that he had been given after the fast food chain discovered he had had affairs with company underlings
Even while head of a $200 billion company, Easterbrook liked a casual look, rarely wearing a tie
Easterbrook (pictured at new Chicago headquarters opening in 2018) admitted that he had showed 'poor judgment' after he was fired for starting a consensual relationship with an underling
Easterbrook claimed McDonald's knew about his affairs when it negotiated his severance package, and a court case was due to start in Delaware in May
The chain said he had tried to cover up the affairs by deleting the messages from his company-issued cell phone, but they still existed on the firm's email servers.
The company decided to sue him to recover the award — which had risen to nearly $105 million as McDonald's stock soared, because, it said — quoting the words of founder Ray Kroc — 'the basis for our entire business is that we are ethical, truthful and dependable.'
'For McDonald's, the ethical operation of its business is not just a legal imperative, but also a cherished value,' McDonalds said in its lawsuit against Easterbrook.
'The company holds the conduct of its employees and its business to high standards of fairness, honesty and integrity.'
Easterbrook claimed McDonald's knew about his affairs when it negotiated his severance package, and a court case was due to start in Delaware in May.
The top floor of the company's Chicago headquarters Chicago has a corporate cash bar with employee happy hours on Thursdays
But now he has agreed to give back the money and apologize for his behavior, that case will no longer go ahead.
The clawback of more than $100million is one of the largest in US business history. As part of the deal, Easterbrook is now free to go work for one of McDonald's competitors. He was previously subject to a no-compete deal.
During Easterbrook's four-and a-half years at the helm of the world's largest restaurant chain, 'a party culture flourished,' the Wall Street Journal reported.
The top floor of the company's headquarters in the West Loop area of Chicago has a corporate cash bar that hosted happy hours for employees on Thursdays, the Journal reported. Easterbrook would regularly drink the night away there.
Top level employees told the paper the environment was influenced by his 'late-night socializing with some executives and staffers at bars and flirtations with female employees,' and called the atmosphere under him 'a macho guys club.'
His successor as CEO, Chris Kempczinski, vowed to restore a more professional approach at the top. He told staff: 'I have to be able to look at every single one of my senior leadership team members and say, 'Do I believe that they personify the values of our company?' '
The identity of the employees that Easterbrook had affairs with has never been revealed However Denise Paleothodoros, who worked for a PR company that worked with McDonald's, told DailyMail.com in 2020 that they had had an affair shortly before he was promoted to the top spot.
Denise Paleothodoros told DailyMail.com that Easterbrook whisked her on luxury vacations, taking her to Cabo San Lucas, New Orleans, Lake Tahoe and New York among other places
Paleothodoros, 49, said both McDonald's and her company, Golin, knew about their romance, and Golin moved her off the McDonald's account. Here they are pictured at a Chicago Cubs game
The couple even had plans to move in together and in 2017 Easterbrook plunked down $2.5 million for a sprawling 19th floor 3500 sq. feet, 3 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom luxury condo in Chicago
But the mom-of-two said things changed after Easterbrook's 2015 promotion. 'He widened his social circle and I wasn't a part of it, I was hurt by being excluded,' she said.
Paleothodoros, 49, said both McDonald's and her company, Golin, knew about their romance, and Golin moved her off the McDonald's account.
'We didn't flaunt our relationship but we didn't really hide it either. Our relationship was above board.
'Steve's a great guy,' she added. 'Kind hearted, giving, almost the perfect guy. The Steve I knew is normal, a guy's guy. He's into sports and likes to drink beer'
Paleothodoros said Easterbrook whisked her on luxury vacations, taking her to Cabo San Lucas, New Orleans, Lake Tahoe and New York among other places.
She said he flew her on McDonald's private jet three times and that he reimbursed McDonald's for the costs of the plane, and that they planned to move in together in his 3.500 sq. ft. Chicago condo.
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