“We begin 2016 in a much better place than we were 12 months ago,” Easterbrook told analysts in late January. And it’s no empty boast. Mere months after taking the reins at the struggling Oak Brook–based burger behemoth, Easterbrook gave customers what the company had previously insisted was impossible: breakfast all day! After the August announcement that it would sling Egg McMuffins after 10:30 a.m., McDonald’s stock began to climb; it hit a record high in October thanks to this and other moves by the British exec, including chopping jobs ($500 million saved).