McDonald's

McDonald's...Is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local restaurants serving nearly 50 million people in more than 119 countries each day.

McDonald's...Is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local restaurants serving nearly 50 million people in more than 119 countries each day.

Information

Is one of the world's most well-known and valuable brands and holds a leading share in the globally branded quick service restaurant segment of the informal eating-out market in virtually every country in which we do business.Serves the world some of its favorite foods - World Famous French Fries, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets and Egg McMuffin.Our rich history began with our founder, Ray Kroc. The strong foundation that he built continues today with McDonald's vision and the commitment of our talented executives to keep the shine on McDonald's arches for years to come. To read more about McDonald's history, vision and executives, click on their links in the left menu.

The McDonald's History - 1954 to 1955

Raymond Albert Kroc 1902-1984, A Salesman Ray Kroc mortgaged his home and invested his entire life savings to become the exclusive distributor of a five-spindled milk shake maker called the Multimixer. Hearing about the McDonald's hamburger stand in California running eight Multimixers at a time, he packed up his car and headed West. It was 1954. He was 52 years old.
Dick and Mac McDonald's Restaurant, San Bernardino, California Ray Kroc had never seen so many people served so quickly when he pulled up to take a look. Seizing the day, he pitched the idea of opening up several restaurants to the brothers Dick and Mac McDonald, convinced that he could sell eight of his Multimixers to each and every one. "Who could we get to open them for us?" Dick McDonald said."Well," Kroc answered, "what about me?" Where it all began, Des Plaines, Illinois Ray Kroc opened the Des Plaines restaurant in 1955. First day's revenues-$366.12! No longer a functioning restaurant, the Des Plaines building is now a museum containing McDonald's memorabilia and artifacts, including the Multimixer!

The McDonald's History - 1965 to 1973

McDonald's Comes To Wall Street In 1965 McDonald's went public with the company's first offering on the stock exchange. A hundred shares of stock costing $2,250 dollars that day would have multiplied into 74,360 shares today, worth over $1.8 million on December 31, 2003. In 1985 McDonald's was added to the 30-company Dow Jones Industrial Average. A Big Idea Called "Big Mac" "Introduced systemwide in 1968, the Big Mac was the brainchild of Jim Delligatti, one of Ray Kroc's earliest franchisees, who by the late 1960s operated a dozen stores in Pittsburgh." The Egg McMuffin Introduced in 1973, the Egg McMuffin was developed by owner operator Herb Peterson.