| Founder of the McDonald's fast food restaurant chain Date of Birth: 05.10.1902 Country: USA |
Ray Kroc, the founder of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain, was an American businessman who was inspired by the idea of developing a small restaurant owned by the 'McDonald's Corporation' and turned it into the world's most successful fast-food chain. With an estimated fortune of $500 million, Kroc was included in Time magazine's list of the hundred most influential people of the century. Starting in 1974, he also owned the professional baseball club 'San Diego Padres'.
Raymond Albert Kroc was born on October 5, 1902, in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, to Czech immigrants. During World War I, he trained to become an ambulance driver, but the war ended before Kroc could be deployed to the frontlines. From the early 1920s until the early 1950s, Ray pursued various occupations, such as selling paper cups, working as a pianist, performing with a jazz orchestra, and working at a local radio station in Oak Park. At one point, he even worked at one of Ray Dambaugh's restaurants on the West Coast to learn the ins and outs of the restaurant business.
Eventually, Kroc became a salesman for milkshake mixers and traveled across the country. He was convinced that he could sell many mixers to every new restaurant that would be opened, so he became a partner with the McDonald brothers, who owned a small restaurant in San Bernardino, California, designed to serve customers as quickly as possible. Kroc purchased the franchise rights to open additional restaurants under the name 'McDonald's' and intended to implement the same rules. However, he was disappointed by the modest ambitions of the McDonald brothers, who were satisfied with a small chain, and decided to buy the entire company to expand according to his own goals and desires.
In 1961, Kroc signed an agreement with the McDonald brothers, acquiring the rights to their company for $2.7 million and 1.9% of sales. However, disagreements arose soon after. The percentage of sales did not satisfy Kroc's investors, who were willing to invest in his growing enterprise. The McDonald brothers, on the other hand, did not transfer to him the rights to the real estate and original equipment. While Kroc completed the deal, he later refused to acknowledge the percentage clause since it was not included in the documents. The McDonald brothers verbally allowed Kroc to make changes to the original restaurant design due to different building codes in different states, but they failed to send him official documents granting permission. As a result, Kroc built a new 'McDonald's' restaurant right next to the old one owned by the McDonald brothers (now renamed 'The Big M' since the brothers neglected to retain the rights to the name) in an effort to squeeze them out of the business.
With the 'McDonald's' chain, Kroc created a new type of fast-food enterprise, embodying Henry Ford's idea of an assembly line in restaurants. He also implemented strict standardization to ensure that every trademark hamburger at 'McDonald's' tasted the same, regardless of the restaurant's location, whether in New York or Tokyo. Kroc also revolutionized the art of franchising by establishing strict rules for food preparation and customer service. As a result of his talented marketing approach, Ronald McDonald, the company's mascot, became the most recognizable mascot in the United States.
In addition to the restaurants, Kroc founded establishments for alcoholism recovery and launched the program known as the 'Ronald McDonald House Foundation' - an international network of charitable hotels for parents who want to be close to their seriously ill children.
Ray Kroc passed away on January 14, 1984, at the age of 81 from heart failure. His third wife, Joan Beverly Kroc, was by his side.