Currently, it's the guy on the left – John Chidsey, CEO and chairman of the board. But like a lot of fast-food chains, Burger King has struggled since the onslaught of the great recession. Its earnings last quarter fell 17 percent and same-store sales worldwide dropped 2.3 percent for the year. If a private-equity firm does come in, "they would probably cut out a lot of those upper management" people, says Steve West, a St. Louis-based analyst for Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Lots of minorities would be paying close attention to those changes. Just last week, Black Enterprise magazine named Burger King one of the 40 best companies for diversity for the third year in a row. (Full disclosure: Stifel, Nicolaus has provided investment banking services to Burger King.)
Business Wire/File
