Ralph Álvarez (born 1955) is a

Cuban American Cuban Americans ( or ) are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States after Mexican Americans, Stateside ...

businessman, an operating partner at

Advent International Advent International Corporation is an American global private equity firm. It is focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strat ...

, a large global

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

, and a member of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

Eli Lilly and Company Eli Lilly and Company, Trade name, doing business as Lilly, is an American multinational Medication, pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Its products are sold in approximately 125 count ...

. He is the former president and

chief operations officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the CEO, ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Early life and education

Álvarez was born in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. In 1976, he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Miami School of Business at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

Career

Álvarez began his career in various leadership positions with

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

and

Wendy's Wendy's International, LLC, is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (businessman), Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of D ...

. In 1994, he joined

, where he served as president of McDonald's Mexico. in 1998, he was forced out of McDonald's following allegations of having an affair with a subordinate. In January 2004, he returned to McDonald's as president and chief operations officer of McDonald's USA and later, from January 2005 to August 2006, as president of McDonald's North America. Citing chronic

knee pain Knee pain is pain in or around the knee. The knee joint consists of an articulation between four bones: the femur, tibia, fibula and patella. There are four compartments to the knee. These are the medial and lateral tibiofemoral compartments, the ...

, Álvarez announced his retirement from McDonald's effective December 31, 2009. He was previously rehired and given a second chance after being forced out in 1998 for having an affair with a subordinate. In 2009, he was appointed a member of the

, a ''Fortune'' 500 global pharmaceutical corporation. He also serves as a member of the board of directors at Lowe’s Companies, Traeger, Inc., First Watch Restaurant Group, and several private companies. He previously served on the boards of McDonald’s Corporation, Realogy Holdings, KeyCorp, Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc., and Skylark Co., Ltd. In July 2017, he became an operating partner at

, a large global

References

External links

Biography
at

Biography
at McDonalds {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Ralph 1955 births Living people American chief operating officers Cuban emigrants to the United States Eli Lilly and Company people McDonald's people University of Miami Business School alumni