Erlinger Joseph M. 4

What Happened
Joseph M. Erlinger, President of McDonald's USA, exercised 2,626 stock options and then sold the 2,626 shares on April 10, 2026. He paid $157.79 per share to exercise (total cost $414,357) and sold the shares at $307.00 each for gross proceeds of $806,182. The transaction produced roughly $391,825 in gross proceeds before taxes and fees.

Key Details

• Transaction date: April 10, 2026; Form 4 filed April 13, 2026 (timely).
• Exercise (code M): 2,626 shares acquired at $157.79 — total exercise cost $414,357.
• Sale (code S): 2,626 shares sold at $307.00 — total proceeds $806,182.
• Derivative disposition entry shows 2,626 shares at $0.00 (reflects the option conversion/settlement).
• Footnote: Options were granted Feb 19, 2018 and vested in 25% increments over four anniversaries (F1).
• Shares owned after the transaction: not specified in this filing.

Context

• This is a routine option exercise with an immediate sale (cashless exercise pattern): the options were converted into common shares which were then sold the same day.
• Transaction codes: M = option exercise/conversion, S = open-market sale.
• Such transactions are common for compensatory option grants and do not, by themselves, indicate management's broader view of the stock.