How McDonald's Makes Money

The story of McDonald's (MCD) often begins with Ray Kroc, the native Chicago milkshake mixing machine salesperson who had the vision to see what the business model deployed by one of his clients, Speedee Service System, could become. Speedee Service System, launched in 1948, was the brainchild of two brothers, Richard James (Dick) and Maurice James (Mac) McDonald, who successfully applied the drive-in concept to food delivery and, ultimately, franchising opportunities. Impressed by what he saw, Ray Kroc became their franchise agent in 1954. He opened up the first McDonald's franchise in 1955 and bought out the McDonald brothers six years later for the then hefty sum of $2.7 million. The rest is part of the entrepreneurial lore that is the hallmark of iconic businesses. 1 Since its founding, the enterprise has about 38,000 restaurants globally that serve close to 68 million customers in 118 countries per day. 3 4 That represents about 1% of the world's population who want a burger, fri

The story of McDonald's (MCD) often begins with Ray Kroc, the native Chicago milkshake mixing machine salesperson who had the vision to see what the business model deployed by one of his clients, Speedee Service System, could become. Speedee Service System, launched in 1948, was the brainchild of two brothers, Richard James (Dick) and Maurice James (Mac) McDonald, who successfully applied the drive-in concept to food delivery and, ultimately, franchising opportunities. Impressed by what he saw, Ray Kroc became their franchise agent in 1954. He opened up the first McDonald's franchise in 1955 a