History of McDonald's

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The American fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's was founded in 1940 by the McDonald brothers, Richard and Maurice, and has since grown to the world's largest restaurant chain by revenue.^[1] The McDonald brothers began the business in San Bernardino, California where the brothers set out to sell their barbecue. However, burgers were more popular with the public and the business model switched to a carhop drive-in style of restaurant. From the 1940s to the mid 1950s, the brothers expanded their business, even incorporating the golden arches, until Ray Kroc turned their small business into the well-known and commercially successful business that it is today. Kroc convinced the brothers to move into a more self-serve business model and to expand nationwide.

Kroc and the McDonald brothers worked together for a number of years until conflicts over their individual visions for what McDonalds as a brand should be came to a climax. Kroc asked the McDonald brothers in 1961 how much they would be willing to leave the business for and the brothers agreed to leave for 2.7 million dollars. Harry J. Sonneborn and Kroc worked together until Sonneborn's resignation in 1967. In the 1970s, McDonalds expanded internationally and still has locations in several countries around the globe. McDonalds operates as one of the largest private employers in the world. Their current CEO is Christopher J. Kempczinski. Their revenue hits about 26 billion every year.^[2]