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Ray Kroc
McDonald's · Oak Park, USA
52-year-old paper-cup salesman who saw a hamburger stand and recognised an operating system. Built fast-food into a real-estate empire.
Systems over foodFranchise disciplineLate-start grit
M
Company
McDonald's
Journey
Moves that mattered.
- 1954Sold milkshake machines; discovered the McDonald brothers' Speedee system.
- 1955Opened first franchise in Des Plaines.
- 1961Bought out the brothers for $2.7M.
- 1984Died — McDonald's in 30+ countries.
Struggles
Diabetic, arthritic, and dismissed as too old to start — ignored everyone.
Family
Married three times; left fortune to wife Joan Kroc's philanthropy.
Related on Empire
Keep reading inside Empire.
Around the web
External references & backlinks.
- ↗wikipedia.orgRay Kroc on Wikipedia
- ↗google.comMcDonald's — official site
- ↗news.google.comRay Kroc in the news
- ↗crunchbase.comMcDonald's on Crunchbase
External links open in a new tab. Empire is not affiliated with these publishers.
The full story
Ray Kroc, in 1 chapters.
- Ch 01
The story
52-year-old paper-cup salesman who saw a hamburger stand and recognised an operating system. Built fast-food into a real-estate empire.
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