Who Owns MCDonald’s? History & Movie from 1937

McDonald’s History

McDonald mostly considered to be the synonym of junk food, or junk food, or the symbol of globalization and the frenetic rhythms of a consumerist and ultra-capitalist society.

Yet all of us, at least once in a lifetime – but maybe even more – have eaten one of his sandwiches or, for the little ones, enjoyed one of his “Happy Meals”: we’re talking about McDonald’s, the most famous fast-food brand in the world.

McDonald’s Corporation, which is currently based in Chicago, owns restaurants around the world for a total turnover of around 26 billion euros. But what is McDonald’s story? How was the franchising that bears the logo of the unmistakable yellow “M” born?

Mc Donald’s; who owns it?

The origin of the largest American fast-food chain in the world dates back to 1937, when the brothers Dick and Mac McDonald opened a small kiosk in Arcadia, a city in California, to sell the most classic American sandwiches: the hot dog.

Although the first restaurant – which the two brothers called McDonald’s Bar-BQ – was opened in 1940 in San Bernardino, also in California, the year of the real “turning point” for the company is 1955.

In that year, in fact, the two brothers met Ray Kroc, an Illinois blenders representative who was very impressed by the speed with which food was produced and distributed in their premises.

So impressed that it was founded shortly after the “McDonald’s Systems, Inc.” – later renamed “McDonald’s Corporation” – which provided support and facilitated franchising to new restaurants.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Kroc decided to buy the land where the Dick and Mac brothers’ restaurant was located, which were then forced to sell him the brand for a total of $2.7 Million.

Shortly thereafter, in 1955, Kroc returned to Illinois to open the first restaurant of the fledgling company.

Less than ten years later, in 1967, the first restaurant outside the US was opened: McDonald’s landed in Canada, in Richmond, a city in British Columbia, while 1971 was the year of the inauguration of the first fast food in Europe, opened in the Netherlands, in Zaandam, a city near Amsterdam.

Commercial expansion continues unabated: many small or large premises with the yellow “M” symbol rise in different countries and continents.

But in the commercial history of McDonald’s, however, there are also setbacks, such as that of March 2006: at that time Great Britain announced in fact the closure of 25 chain stores due to lack of customers and as a result of a trend negative consolidated in the last two years.

This crisis was explained by the European head of the chain, Denis Hennequin, who spoke of a “sign of fatigue” with the brand.

Also in 2006 – a decidedly disastrous year for McDonald’s Corporation – Walt Disney also decides to forfeit its contract by not renewing the $ 1 billion contract to exploit the rights of Disney characters: of course this was a blow to the franchise since the agreement, stipulated in 1996, turned out to be strategic for McDonald’s marketing campaigns and especially for those aimed at the smallest public.

Over time McDonald’s has undergone several changes and has had to adapt to a constantly changing market, to new commercial logics and survive the continuous challenges of competition but, despite this, it has remained one of the most famous brands in the world.

The story of McDonald’s is told in a film directed by John Lee Hancock and released in 2016. The film, which tells the true story of entrepreneur Ray Kroc played by Michael Keaton and his acquisition of the McDonald’s fast-food chain. On February 14, 2019 the film is broadcast on Rai 3.

So by this account, we can affirm that the real owner of McDonald’s is Ray Kroc.

We hope you are able to find who owns McDonald’s fatsest food chain in the world.