McDonald’s, completely known as McDonald’s Corporation, is an American-based fast-food chain. In 1940, the first McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino, United States, was opened by two American brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald. They formed the Speedee Service System, in which they created Speedee, symbolizing their quick, efficient service system. The first McDonald’s was just a small restaurant designed to produce food at low prices and in large quantities. 

For this purpose, the McDonald brothers kept the menu limited to some fast food items only, which included hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and potato chips, which were replaced by French fries, drinks, milk, and pie in later years. At that, it’s, 15 percent of the menu was full of hamburgers. McDonald’s is well known for its hamburgers, particularly its big macs. 

On November 30, 1984, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York, Richard McDonald, who was the first cook behind the grill of the McDonald’s corporation, was honored with the ceremonial 50 billionth McDonald’s hamburger by Ed Rensi. The latter was the then-president of McDonald’s USA.

About the Founders of McDonald’s

Two American brothers, Richard McDonald and Maurice McDonald were the founders of McDonald’s corporation. These siblings entrepreneurs of the McDonald’s corporations were born in Manchester, New Hampshire, and traveled to the United States. These McDonald brothers opened the first McDonald’s as a restaurant in San Bernardino, California, the United States. Their goal was to earn $1million before they turned 50. To achieve this goal, they started franchising their establishment. 

Later, in 1954, they hired Ray Kroc as their franchise agent, who later on, in 1961, brought out the McDonald brothers. McDonald’s brother thought to handle only a small number of restaurants, and Ray Kroc did not like this desire. The brothers also didn’t allow Kroc to change several things like the original blueprint. At the closing ray, Kroc got frustrated that the brother would not transfer the right of the original San Bernardino location. In his anger, Ray Kroc started his own McDonald’s restaurant, renamed “The Big M”. But after six years of opening, “The Big M” was closed.

Net Worth of the Founders of McDonald’s

In 1961, McDonald’s was purchased by the American businessman and entrepreneur, Raymond Albert Kroc. In 1984, the estimated net worth of the founder of McDonald’s was $600 million at his death. After adjusting for inflation, his net worth would be $1.4 billion in today’s time. After his death on January 14, 1984, at 81 years old due to heart failure, all his property was passed down to his third wife, Joan. At the time of Joan’s death in 2003, her estimated net worth was $3 billion, which was, as per her will of property, given away to the charity at the time of her death.

Is Ray Kroc, the real founder of McDonald’s? – This is one of the most asked questions about McDonald’s; the answer is that no, Ray Kroc is not the real founder of McDonald’s. The startup idea of McDonald’s was of the McDonald brothers, who started McDonald’s as a restaurant in San Bernardino, California, United States. In later years it was purchased by Ray Kroc. Ray Kroc has purchased and popularized McDonald’s. Ray Kroc was responsible for the expansion of McDonald’s and turning this restaurant into the most successful fast-food chain globally. Under his vigil as the company owner, the company gained popularity and success. That’s why he has also been referred to as the founder of the McDonald’s Corporation.

In this article, we have discussed the McDonald’s corporations; we have also given information about the founder of McDonald’s? Who was Ray Kroc, and what was the net worth of McDonald’s owners? In this article, we have also considered the question: is Ray Kroc the real owner of McDonald’s?