McDONALD'S is the biggest fast food franchise in the world.
And one of the key figures behind the huge franchise is Ray Kroc - if. Here's what we know about his involvement at McDonald's.
Who was Ray Kroc?
Ray Kroc was born on October 5, 1902, in Oak Park, Illinois, near Chicago.
His parents Rose Mary and Alois "Louis" Kroc were Czech-American.
Alois was born in Horní Stupno, part of Břasy near Rokycany.
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After they immigrated to America, Alois made a fortune speculating on land during the 1920s.
However, he lost everything when the stock market crashed in 1929.
During World War I, Ray lied about his age and became a Red Cross ambulance driver at 15.
The war ended shortly after he was enlisted and during the Great Depression he worked in a variety of jobs including selling paper cups, working as an estate agent in Florida, and playing the piano in bands.
When did Ray Kroc buy McDonald's?
In the early 1940s Ray worked as a salesman and became the exclusive distributor for the “multimixer".
He made the acquaintance of Richard and Maurice McDonald who had bought eight of his “multimixers” - a blender that could simultaneously mix five milk shakes.
Kroc visited the brothers, who owned a restaurant in San Bernardino, California, in 1954.
He was impressed with the large number of hamburgers, French fries, and milk shakes they sold.
Kroc signed a franchise agreement with the brothers, as he began his chain of drive-in restaurants based on their production line format.
On April 15, 1955, the first of Kroc’s McDonald’s restaurants opened in Des Plaines, Illinois.
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Kroc continued to sell franchises until finally buying out the McDonald brothers in 1961 for $2.7.million (£2.1m).
It was ensured each brother received $1 million (£782,650.00) after tax.
At that time, Kroc had established 228 restaurants and sales had reached $37million (£29m).
Kroc is credited with making a number of changes in the food-service model.
Among them is the sale of only single-store franchises rather than larger, territorial franchises.
Most importantly, Ray wanted uniformity in service and quality amongst every McDonald's restaurant.
However, due to the inability to influence franchises, Kroc knew this could be difficult to achieve.
He maintained the "speedee service system" for hamburger preparation that had been introduced by the McDonald's brothers in 1948.
He also standardised operations meaning every burger would taste the same in every restaurant.
Ray made strict rules for franchises on how the food was to be made - portion sizes, cooking methods and times, and packaging.
He rejected cost-cutting measures like using a soybean filler in their hamburger patties.
The strict rules also applied to customer service standards such as refunding money for incorrect orders or to those who had to wait more than five minutes for their food.
Kroc served as president of McDonald’s from 1955 to 1968, as chairman of the board from 1968 to 1977, and as senior chairman from 1977 until his death
By the time he passed away, the McDonald's chain had 7,500 outlets in the United States and in 31 other countries and territories.
The total system-wide sales of restaurants were more than $8billion (just over £6.2billion) and his own personal fortune amounted to $600million (just over £400million).
What other businesses did Ray Kroc own?
Kroc retired from running the franchise in 1973.
He was looking for a new challenge and decided to return to baseball when he learned the Californian side, the San Diego Padres, were for sale.
During Ray's first year of ownership in 1974, the team lost 102 games but drew in over million in attendance, the standard box office success in the major leagues at the time.
On April 9, 1974 when the Padres were on the brink of losing a 9-5 decision to the Houston Astros during the opener at San Diego Stadium, Ray addressed the public stating: "I've never seen such stupid ball playing in my life."
The crowd cheered in approval.
In 1979 he handed over operations to his son-in-law Ballard Smith stating: "There's more future in hamburgers than baseball."
After Kroc's death, the Padres wore a patch bearing his initials RAK.
He was also inducted posthumously as part of the inaugural class of the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame in 1999.
The team was sold by his widow, Joan, in 1990.
How did Ray Kroc die?
In 1980, Ray suffered from a stroke and entered an alcohol rehabilitation facility.
He passed away on January 14, 1984, from heart failure at the age of 81.
He was buried at El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley, San Diego.
Was Ray Kroc married and did he have children?
Ray was married to Ethel Fleming from 1922 to 1961 and Jane Dobbins Green from 1963 to 1968.
Ray and Ethel met in 1919, soon fell in love, married in 1922 and moved to Chicago.
Their daughter Marilyn was born in 1924.
His third wife, Joan, was a philanthropist who donated to a variety of causes that interested her.
They met at a McDonald's conference and despite both being married at the time fell in love and married six months later in 1969.
She had one daughter from her previous marriage.
When she died in 2003, her remaining $2.7 billion (just over £2.1 billlion) was distributed among nonprofit organisations.
She also donated to community centres throughout the country.