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Claims vs Receipts · FY2015–FY2025
"Running out of money?"
In June 2026, executives at four large consumer companies told investors the American consumer was in trouble — "literally running out of money," beset by "heightened anxiety," with "sentiment collapsing to record lows."
This project sets those warnings next to the numbers the same companies file with the SEC. The squeeze is real — but the messengers are posting strong profits, returning $10.3B to shareholders in 2025 alone, and paying their CEOs hundreds of times what their own median workers earn — the very consumers said to be tapped out.
The claims · 5 June 2026
"heightened anxiety"
— Chris Kempczinski, CEO
"They're literally running out of money at the end of the month"
— Steve Cahillane, CEO
"amplified consumer concerns about the cost of living"
— Marc Bitzer, CEO
"The consumer and economic backdrop have shifted"
— Colleen Keating, CEO
The profits · net income by year
SEC 10-K
McDonald's net income rose through the inflation era to $8.6B in 2025. Planet Fitness keeps climbing; Whirlpool is genuinely soft; Kraft Heinz's losses are impairments, not operating cash.
| Company | Fiscal year | Net income ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| McDonald's | 2015 | 4529.3 |
| McDonald's | 2016 | 4686.5 |
| McDonald's | 2017 | 5192.3 |
| McDonald's | 2018 | 5924.3 |
| McDonald's | 2019 | 6025.4 |
| McDonald's | 2020 | 4730.5 |
| McDonald's | 2021 | 7545.2 |
| McDonald's | 2022 | 6177 |
| McDonald's | 2023 | 8469 |
| McDonald's | 2024 | 8223 |
| McDonald's | 2025 | 8563 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2015 | n/a |
| Kraft Heinz | 2016 | 3596 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2017 | 10941 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2018 | -10192 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2019 | 1935 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2020 | 356 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2021 | 1012 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2022 | 2363 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2023 | 2855 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2024 | 2744 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2025 | -5846 |
| Whirlpool | 2015 | 783 |
| Whirlpool | 2016 | 888 |
| Whirlpool | 2017 | 350 |
| Whirlpool | 2018 | -183 |
| Whirlpool | 2019 | 1168 |
| Whirlpool | 2020 | 1075 |
| Whirlpool | 2021 | 1783 |
| Whirlpool | 2022 | -1519 |
| Whirlpool | 2023 | 481 |
| Whirlpool | 2024 | -323 |
| Whirlpool | 2025 | 318 |
| Planet Fitness | 2015 | 18.5 |
| Planet Fitness | 2016 | 21.5 |
| Planet Fitness | 2017 | 33.1 |
| Planet Fitness | 2018 | 88 |
| Planet Fitness | 2019 | 117.7 |
| Planet Fitness | 2020 | -15 |
| Planet Fitness | 2021 | 42.8 |
| Planet Fitness | 2022 | 99.4 |
| Planet Fitness | 2023 | 138.3 |
| Planet Fitness | 2024 | 172 |
| Planet Fitness | 2025 | 219.1 |
The pay gap · CEO vs median worker (FY2025)
DEF 14A
McDonald's median employee — a crew member earning about $19,000 — is the lower-income consumer its CEO describes as squeezed. The CEO made 1,082:1 that.
| Company | CEO | Pay ratio | Median basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| McDonald's | Chris Kempczinski | 1082:1 | disclosed/computed |
| Whirlpool | Marc Bitzer | 429:1 | computed from ratio |
| Planet Fitness | Colleen Keating | 422:1 | disclosed |
| Kraft Heinz | Carlos Abrams-Rivera | 170:1 | disclosed |
median_basis on the data page). Kraft Heinz's lower ratio reflects a higher-paid, factory-heavy median workforce (~$63K), not restraint at the top.The payouts · buybacks + dividends
SEC 10-K
"Running out of money" is hard to square with the cash these firms hand to shareholders — McDonald's alone returned $7.2B in 2025, and has run negative equity since 2016.
| Company | Fiscal year | Buybacks ($M) | Dividends ($M) | Total ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McDonald's | 2015 | 6099.2 | 3230.3 | 9329.5 |
| McDonald's | 2016 | 11171 | 3058.2 | 14229.2 |
| McDonald's | 2017 | 4685.7 | 3089.2 | 7774.9 |
| McDonald's | 2018 | 5207.7 | 3255.9 | 8463.6 |
| McDonald's | 2019 | 4976.2 | 3581.9 | 8558.1 |
| McDonald's | 2020 | 907.8 | 3752.9 | 4660.7 |
| McDonald's | 2021 | 845.5 | 3918.6 | 4764.1 |
| McDonald's | 2022 | 3896 | 4168 | 8064 |
| McDonald's | 2023 | 3054 | 4533 | 7587 |
| McDonald's | 2024 | 2824 | 4870 | 7694 |
| McDonald's | 2025 | 2056 | 5115 | 7171 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2015 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Kraft Heinz | 2016 | n/a | 3584 | 3584 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2017 | n/a | 2888 | 2888 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2018 | n/a | 3183 | 3183 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2019 | n/a | 1953 | 1953 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2020 | n/a | 1958 | 1958 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2021 | 271 | 1959 | 2230 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2022 | 280 | 1960 | 2240 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2023 | 455 | 1965 | 2420 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2024 | 988 | 1931 | 2919 |
| Kraft Heinz | 2025 | 436 | 1898 | 2334 |
| Whirlpool | 2015 | 250 | 269 | 519 |
| Whirlpool | 2016 | 525 | 294 | 819 |
| Whirlpool | 2017 | 750 | 312 | 1062 |
| Whirlpool | 2018 | 1153 | 306 | 1459 |
| Whirlpool | 2019 | 148 | 305 | 453 |
| Whirlpool | 2020 | 121 | 311 | 432 |
| Whirlpool | 2021 | 1041 | 338 | 1379 |
| Whirlpool | 2022 | 903 | 390 | 1293 |
| Whirlpool | 2023 | 0 | 384 | 384 |
| Whirlpool | 2024 | 50 | 384 | 434 |
| Whirlpool | 2025 | 0 | 300 | 300 |
| Planet Fitness | 2015 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Planet Fitness | 2016 | 1.6 | 169.3 | 170.9 |
| Planet Fitness | 2017 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Planet Fitness | 2018 | 342.4 | n/a | 342.4 |
| Planet Fitness | 2019 | 458.2 | n/a | 458.2 |
| Planet Fitness | 2020 | 0 | n/a | 0 |
| Planet Fitness | 2021 | 0 | n/a | 0 |
| Planet Fitness | 2022 | 94.3 | n/a | 94.3 |
| Planet Fitness | 2023 | 125 | n/a | 125 |
| Planet Fitness | 2024 | 300.2 | n/a | 300.2 |
| Planet Fitness | 2025 | 500.4 | n/a | 500.4 |
A note on the numbers
All figures are nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted. Financials and shareholder returns are reported SEC 10-K values; pay ratios are DEF 14A proxy disclosures (some median-worker figures are computed from a disclosed ratio). We publish no figure we can't cite — CEO net worth is intentionally left blank, because these non-founder professional CEOs have no reliably tracked net worth. See About for the full methodology.