Charlie Bell， who is an Australian， has gone from flipping burgers and cleaning toilets in a suburban① restaurant to running the worldwide McDonald’s fast food empire. Charlie Bell who started at the Kingsgrove McDonald’s store in Sydney at 15 becomes the first non-American to head the company. He was appointed chief executive of McDonald’s International hours after the sudden death of his friend and mentor Jim Cantalupo. Mr Cantalupo died from a heart attack while attending a franchisee② conference in Florida.
Mr Bell progressed quickly， becoming Australia’s youngest store manager at 19. In 1993 he was appointed managing director of McDonald’s Australia and began heading up the firm’s Asia wide operations in 1999. Mr Bell was widely accepted as the heir apparent when he was promoted in December 2002 from head of European operations to McDonald’s global headquarters in Chicago. At the McDonald’s board meeting on April 19 he was appointed to lead the company that operates 30，000 restaurants in 118 countries with 400，000 staff worldwide. “Charlie Bell has worked side by side with Jim during these past 16 months to revitalize③ McDonald’s all over the world” read a board statement released after the succession vote. “He is ideally suited and prepared to continue Jim’s remarkable focus and discipline on our business.”
A funny thing happened to Charlie Bell on the way from Kingsford near Sydney to Chicago in the US. Everyone is talking about Charlie’s story—how a 15-year-old Sydney school kid was a part timer at McDonald’s just like a million other Aussie school kids. But this one became the youngest store manager at 19. A former schoolmate， Peter Byrnes， says “He was always single-minded④ about the whole McDonald’s thing never frightened to do things his way or to back his own feelings. He was always his own person and you couldn’t help but admire that about Charlie.”
Australia’s Consul General in New York， Ken Allen， noted the close working relationship and friendship Mr.Bell and Mr.Cantalupo enjoyed. Mr.Cantalupo translated Mr.Bell’s favorite Australian slang. Mr.Allen said there was no better man than Charlie Bell to carry on the great legacy⑤ left by Jim Cantalupo. “He’ll continue to make McDonald’s one of the most successful companies in the world，”he said.
Independent consultant Dick Adams， a former McDonald’s franchising executive， said “There’s a general sense that Mr. Bell will go along with Cantalupo’s agenda and plan because he’s one of the adopters of that plan.” Mr. Bell had been the heir apparent⑥since the company promoted him from head of European operations to president and chief operating officer in December 2002.
① suburbanadj. 郊区的，近郊的
② franchiseen. 特许经营人
③ revitalizev. 使恢复生气，使复活，使复兴
④ single-mindedadj. 一心一意的，专心的
⑤ legacyn. 遗产，遗赠
⑥ apparentadj. 显然的，明显的
查利·贝尔
查利·贝尔是一个澳大利亚人，在郊区一家餐馆烤汉堡刷厕所，但是却登上了掌管全世界麦当劳帝国的宝座。15岁时，查利·贝尔在悉尼金斯格罗夫的麦当劳餐厅打工，然而却成了麦当劳第一位非美国籍掌门人。在他的朋友和导师吉姆·坎塔卢波突然去世后几个小时，他被任命为麦当劳国际公司首席执行官。坎塔卢波是在美国佛罗里达州出席特许经销商会议时突发心脏病去世的。
贝尔平步青云，19岁成为澳大利亚最年轻的麦当劳餐厅经理。1993年，他被任命为澳大利亚麦当劳总经理，1999年开始负责麦当劳全亚洲的业务。2002年12月，当他被欧洲总裁提升到麦当劳在芝加哥的全球总部时，人们普遍认为他是接班人。在麦当劳董事会4月19日举行的会议上，他被任命为这家在全世界118个国家有3万家连锁店和40万员工的公司的掌门人。公司董事会在选继任者的投票后发表的声明说：“为了重振麦当劳在全世界的雄风，过去16个月来，查利·贝尔同吉姆并肩工作。他是担当此任的合适人选，他准备把吉姆对麦当劳业务的有特色的重心与规则坚持下去。”
对贝尔来说，从悉尼附近的金斯福尔德到美国的芝加哥是件很有趣的事。大家都在谈论贝尔的故事：像澳大利亚其他百万学童一样，一个15岁的悉尼学童当时是如何在麦当劳打散工的。可是，这个学童19岁就成为麦当劳一个连锁店最年轻的经理。贝尔以前的同校同学彼得·伯恩斯说：“对于麦当劳的整个事情，他总是一心一意，从不害怕以自己的方式或感觉行事。他一向我行我素，你没有别的办法，只能对他赞赏有加。”
澳大利亚驻纽约总领事肯·艾伦提到贝尔和坎塔卢波之间密切的工作关系和友谊。坎塔卢波把贝尔喜欢的澳大利亚俚语翻译过来。艾伦说，要把坎塔卢波留下的伟大遗产继承下去，没有比贝尔更合适的了。他说：“他将继续使麦当劳成为世界上最成功的公司之一。”
独立顾问、麦当劳前特许经销主管迪克·亚当斯说：“大家普遍的感觉是，贝尔将遵循坎塔卢波制定的议程和计划，因为他是该计划的制定者之一。”自从麦当劳于2002年12月把他从欧洲总裁提升为公司总裁兼首席运营官以来，贝尔显然是既定的接班人。