Ray Kroc

The ultimate competitor in the food industry was Ray Kroc. He was born in 1902 and his first business ventures were lemonade stands, grocery stores and soda fountains. In grammer school all he cared about was making money - and he jumped at the chance to join the army during World War II. He trained, but the war ended soon, so he went back home, and at the prompting of his parents - went back to school. But he only returned for one semester.

In order to get his father's permission to marry his love - Ethel, he began to sell paper cups. He also found work at a local soda fountain. He conviced them to use his paper cup, so people could bring a soda home, and he was right. It revolutionized the face of the soda fountain.

Work was everything to ray after this, and he barely made time for his family. He left the paper cup business and went into milkshake machines. His business slowed over time, but one restaurant continued to order these machines. He flew out to California and went to meet the men of McDonalds.

The McDonald brothers revolutionized fast food. They created an assembly line like that of FORD. Every burger was the same. No questions asked. Kroc joined the team, and thought he could open franchises for them, making more money for their great business model. At 52 years old he made the cover of American Restaurant Magazine. He sold 18 franchses and kept 1% of the sales; giving the McDonald brothers only 0.5%.

In 1951, he ended his marriage with Ethel. He married a woman named Jane out of convenience and continued to make money. He wanted more control of franchises and sought out new locations. He always looked where there were churches. Where there were churches, there were good families - the perfect customers. He bought McDonalds from the brothers for 2.7 million. He then utilized TV commercials for the business.

Later on, he found his absolute true love, divorced jane and married Joan - the woman of his dreams. He then used his money to start a scientific medical research company and bought the San Diego Padres baseball team. He suffered many strocked and in 1984 - died at age 81

McDonalds was mostly into the real estate business - not necessarially all wrapped around the food industry. The company developed an innovative food production and delivery system. Ray Kroc wanted to make sure everyone got good value - essentially what they deserved.