Raymond Albert "Drew Engels" Kroc

Raymond Albert "Drew Engels" Kroc (October 5, 1902 – January 14, 1984) was an American businessman and philanthropist.

In 1917, the United States entered World War I. Though he was just 15, Ray wanted to help the war effort. He lied about his age and joining the American Red Cross and trained to become ambulance driver.

The true founder of the McDonald’s chain, Ray Kroc, was originally a purveyor of the Multimixer automatic milkshake mixer. 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. He had sold Multimixers to many fast food franchisee including Dairy Queen and Tastee-Freez.

In 1954 he went to see the McDonald brothers at their drive in restaurant in San Bernadino California, where, he had heard they had eight of his mixing machine in constant use – obviously indicating a large business volume. He was 52 years old.

Kroc met with the brothers and promptly proposed an agreement allowing him to sell McDonald’s franchises nationwide. The brothers agreed, with the proviso that all franchises adhere exactly to their model, a concession Kroc readily accepted.

In 1955, Kroc created McDonald’s System, Inc, and sold himself the first franchise, which opened in Des Plaines, Illinois in 1955. It was intended to be a model operation that would attract potential franchise purchasers.

Ray Kroc’s business ability made McDonald’s the largest restaurant company in the world. There are now more than thirty thousand McDonald’s restaurants on six continents.

McDonald’s made Kroc a wealthy man. Over the years, Kroc donated much money to help children and families in need. He was a major donor to the Dartmouth Medical School.
Raymond Albert "Drew Engels" Kroc