Raymond Albert Kroc

RAYMOND ALBERT KROC

Ray Kroc was born in Oak Park Illinois in the fifth of October of the year 1902. At the age of four Ray's destiny was read when his father took him to a phrenologist who predicted he was going to have a career in food.

In 1917 Ray Kroc, only 15 years old at the time, lied about his age to join the Red Cross as an ambulance driver. While in the Red Cross he was in Company A, which was the same company as Walt Disney. He did not make it to Europe, however, because the war ended too soon. After the war he became a piano player. In 1922 he had also become a salesman for the Lily Tulip Cup Co. While a salesman he was quoted as saying, "The definition of salesmanship is the gentle art of letting people have it your way". However, the beginning of his success was when he met Earl Prince. Earl Prince had invented a multi-mixer. Kroc figured the machine was good enough to be sold and used elsewhere. So in the early 1950's he got permission to go about the country and sell the multi-mixer.

While peddling about the country he came in contact with the super efficient McDonald's hamburger joint, which was started by Dick and Mac McDonald, who were brothers. He saw this place and optimistically envisioned many more opening up all over the country. He convinced the brothers to let him be their first franchisee. They agreed so in 1954 Ray opened up the first McDonalds franchise. A year later, Ray opened up the second McDonalds franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois. Only four years after the second restaurant's opening the one hundredth McDonalds was opened. In 1961 Ray Kroc bought the rights to the McDonalds franchise for a meager 2.7 million dollars. To pay this massive sum at the time he had to mortgage his house and take out numerous loans that would eventually cost him 14 million to pay back. After he bought the rights to the name and the company he forced Dick and Mac to remove their name from their original restaurant. But he went even further when he opened up a McDonalds restaurant a block down the road trying to put them out of business. Also that same year Hamburger University was opened.

In 1963 there were many great things the 500th restaurant was opened and the one- billionth burger was sold. Also in 1963 the first television commercials targeting children were aired featuring Ronald McDonald. The reason they chose the clown was to bring in children, who at the time were important in deciding where the family ate.

On May 7th 1965 McDonalds started selling shares. If you were to buy 100 shares of McDonalds' stock at the price of $2,500 back then you would have made 1.8 million dollars now. In 1968 the famous Big Mac was introduced on the McDonalds menu. This double patty hamburger was invented at the Uniontown, Pennsylvania McDonalds by Jim Delligatti.

In 1972 Ray Kroc donated $250,000 to Richard Nixon's campaign (a blatant political move). At the same time McDonalds was lobbying to prevent an increase in minimum wage they were also trying to pay a sub minimum wage to young workers. A year later McDonalds opened up restaurants in England, which at first were unsuccessful. To further the efficiency of the McDonalds experience they opened the first of its drive-thrus in Arizona.

In 1977 the breakfast menu was introduced here in America. This menu was introduced in order to encourage the eating of McDonalds foods even early in the day further strengthening their grip on the fast food market.

A year later in 1978 the 5,000th McDonalds store was opened in Japan. That one store alone made 1 million dollars its first year. McDonalds hit the water in 1980 with the first floating restaurant in Missouri. This was also the year McDonalds opened its 6,000th restaurant. Only two years later in 1982 McDonalds opened up its 7,000th restaurant. In 1983 the popular chicken McNuggets were introduced to the McDonalds menu.

This same year a new hamburger university was opened in Oak Brook, Illinois.

1984, this year is the dread of McDonalds, this is the year that a man kills twenty-two people in a San Diego McDonalds restaurant. In addition to the murders, Ray Kroc dies of a heart ailment at the ripe old age of 81. I don't think it was from eating too many of his own hamburgers. He died leaving behind a family fortune of 500 million dollars and the ownership of the San Diego Padres baseball team.

Though the end of his legacy is not the end of McDonalds they still are today the leader in the fast food market. They out sell Burger King 4-1.

That was the business part of Ray Kroc what about the personal side? Well in1922 he married his first wife Ethel