????麥當勞（McDonald's）宣布,，公司CEO吉姆?斯金納將于今年6月份退休，其繼任者,、麥當勞現(xiàn)任董事長多恩?湯普森將于今年7月1日接替他的職位,。自筆者開始報道麥當勞以來，這家公司共經歷了五位CEO,，但卻沒有一位的離職像吉姆?斯金納這般體面,。他做出退休決定的時機確實出人意料，但鑒于吉姆?斯金納在麥當勞任職已長達41年之久,，因此對于他的離職,，外界無需過分擔憂。

????麥克?昆蘭（CEO任期：1987年3月——1998年7月）：昆蘭時代的麥當勞與今天大不相同,。上世紀90年代的麥當勞還不是一家上市公司,。昆蘭與華爾街沒有任何關系，他甚至會有意回避華爾街的分析人士,。昆蘭最大的成就是帶領麥當勞實現(xiàn)了在海外市場的快速增長,。他任職期間，麥當勞股票上漲幅度超過了400%,。

????杰克?格林伯格（CEO任期：1998年7月——2003年1月）：很遺憾,，格林伯格執(zhí)掌麥當勞時，公司正處于動蕩不安的階段。當時的麥當勞正面臨過度增長的問題,，尤其是在美國市場,。格林伯格提議在2003年春推出沙拉菜單，正是這一措施使公司在13個月后,，首次出現(xiàn)同店銷售額正增長,。但格林伯格無法擺脫的是，公司七個季度令人失望的盈利數據,。他任職期間,，麥當勞股票下跌幅度約為60%。

????吉姆?坎塔盧波（CEO任期：2003年1月—— 2004年4月）：坎塔盧波于2003年提出“制勝計劃”策略,，但就在公司局面扭轉的時候,，坎塔盧波突然去世。在他短暫的任職期間,，公司股票上漲了60%,，并從此開始進入上升通道。

????查理?貝爾（CEO任期：2004年4月 —— 2004年11月）：在他任職期間,，麥當勞因繼任計劃而成為企業(yè)管理的典范,。查理?貝爾接管麥當勞幾個月后也不幸離世。

????吉姆?斯金納（CEO任期：2004年11月 —— 2012年6月）：斯金納最初執(zhí)掌麥當勞時,，筆者曾戲稱,，他的工作就是別把事情搞砸。結果,，在其任職期間,，麥當勞股票上漲幅度超過了200%,，可以說,，他圓滿完成了自己的工作！

????筆者最大的疑問是：“為什么選擇現(xiàn)在離職,？”近期,，公司公布的盈利數據不盡人意，是斯金納上臺以來首次出現(xiàn)這樣的情況,，難道這一切只是巧合嗎,？他是否預見到了投資者尚未察覺的異常情況？歐洲經濟危機以及其他許多因素確實使麥當勞未來的增長面臨著嚴峻的挑戰(zhàn),。

????當然,，我們很難搞清楚斯金納選擇現(xiàn)在退休的真實原因，但他在麥當勞已經任職了長達41年的時間,，他也應該好好歇一歇了,。他的繼任者湯普森很難取得吉姆?斯金納的成就，不過作為在麥當勞工作了22年之久的“老將”，湯普森也絕非泛泛之輩,。

????對于每天這些靠麥當勞謀生的人來說,，斯金納退休這件事本身不足為奇，但蹊蹺的是他退休的時機,。湯普森的接任可謂眾望所歸,，但我們還是禁不住懷疑，麥當勞7月份的權力交接是否另有玄機,？

????譯者：阿龍/汪皓

????McDonald's announced that CEO Jim Skinner will retire in June and the company's president and Don Thompson will take the helm effective July 1. Since I have been covering McDonald's, there have been five different CEOs and none has stepped down as decorated as Jim Skinner. The timing of his decision is surprising but, given how long he has been at the company – 41 years – him stepping down is not an undue cause for concern.

????Mike Quinlan (CEO from March 1987 – July 1998): The Quinlan era was very different. The McDonald's (MCD) of today is not the public company it was in the 1990s. Quinlan did not have a relationship with Wall Street -- in fact he shunned analysts. His primary achievement was the dramatic overseas growth of McDonald's. The stock was up more than 400% during his tenure.

????Jack Greenberg (CEO from July 1998 – January 2003): Unfortunately Greenberg held the top spot during a tumultuous period for the company. Excessive growth, particularly in the U.S., was a problem for McDonald's. It was Greenberg's idea to launch salads in the spring of 2003 which lead to the first positive month of same-store sales after 13 painful months. What he could not shake off was seven quarters of earnings disappointments. The stock was down roughly 60% during his tenure.

????Jim Cantalupo (CEO from January 2003 – April 2004): Cantalupo gets credited with bringing about the "Plan to Win" strategy in 2003, but passed away just as the company was turning the corner. The stock has gained 60% during his short tenure, a period that ended up being the beginning of a long upward trend for the stock.

????Charlie Bell (CEO from April 2004 – November 2004): It was during this period in McDonald's' history that it became the role model company for always having a succession plan in place. Bell passed away mere months after taking the reins at MCD.

????Jim Skinner (CEO November 2004 – June 2012): When Skinner took the helm at McDonald's I joked to myself that it was his job not to mess things up. With the stock up more than 200% during his tenure, he certainly did his job!

????The question that comes to mind most is, "why now?" Is it just a coincidence that the company recently announced its first earnings disappointment of the Skinner era? Does he see something investors do not? The economic turmoil in Europe, among other factors, poses a significant challenge to McDonald's going forward.

????Of course, it is difficult to know why Skinner is stepping down now but after 41 years with the company he deserves some time off. It will be difficult for Thompson to achieve the same results that Jim Skinner did but, as a veteran of 22 years, he is also a very capable executive.

????To those of us that live and breathe McDonald's every day, Skinner's retirement itself is not a surprise, but the timing was somewhat surprising. Thompson was widely-expected to take over but we are left wondering if there is any reason for the change taking place in July.