Woods Staton

Woods Staton is the President and CEO of Arcos Dorados, the largest McDonald’s franchise in the world. With over 1,800 restaurants and sales of US$3.5 billion dollars (2009), it is one of the largest companies in Latin America, with more than 100,000 employees.

Mr. Staton began his career as the Joint Venture Partner for McDonald’s in Argentina before moving on to become President of the McDonald’s South Latin
America Division.

Previously, Mr. Staton worked in Panamco, founded by his grandfather, the largest Coca-Cola bottler in Latin America. When the company was sold in 2003, he was the Chairman of the Board.

Mr. Staton is a co-founder and supporter of the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Latin America, a co-founder and board member of Endeavor Argentina, a founding partner of Ashoka Argentina, and was recently named to the International Advisory Board of IAE, the leading business school in Argentina. He is also a member of the International Advisory Board of Itaú-Unibanco, and member of the Chairman’s Council of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas.

He is a Senior Partner of Pegasus one of the leading firms doing private equity and Real Estate in the Southern Cone. Pegasus has deployed more than US$500MM in capital.  Mr. Staton also helped co-found Farmacity, the most extensive chain of pharmacies in Argentina and has sales of over US$600MM per annum.

Born in Medellín, Colombia, Mr. Staton is an Argentine citizen. He holds an MBA from IMD, in Switzerland, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Emory University.