Ray Kroc

Facts of Ray Kroc

American entrepreneur Ray Kroc is most known for turning the local McDonald’s chain into the most lucrative restaurant franchise in the entire globe.

At the age of eight and a half, Kroc passed away from heart failure on January 14, 1984, and was laid to rest at El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley, San Diego.

When and where was Ray born?

Ray Kroc was born Raymond Albert Kroc on October 5, 1902, in Oak Park, Illinois, in the United States. He had American citizenship and belonged to the white ethnic group.

Rose Mary and Alois “Louis” Kroc, who were both of Czech ancestry, had Kroc as their firstborn child. Robert & Lorraine were his two younger siblings.

Kroc attended Oak Park’s Lincoln School for his education. Krooc was excellent in arguments at the time and had a natural ability to persuade others. He attended grammar school as well. He then started working odd jobs at pharmacies and grocery stores to supplement his income.

Career

At the age of fourteen, Ray Kroc founded the Ray Kroc Music Emporium with two of his pals, where his friends sold sheet music and he performed the piano. But after a few months, it was shut down.

After that, Kroc spent a few months working at his uncle’s soda shop, honing his sales skills even more.

At the age of seventeen, in 1919, Kroc began his job in sales. To augment his money, he worked as a nightclub pianist or a DJ at a nearby radio station. After that, Kroc worked at several positions selling anything from Fort Lauderdale real estate to feminine decorations and accessories.

Kroc was an industrious, young man who sold paper cups while traveling the nation.

At the age of thirty-one, Kroc quit his comfortable career to found Prince Castle Sales after acquiring the exclusive selling rights to a mixing company. At first, the response was favorable; 8000 mixers were sold in a single year.

setting up McDonald’s

In 1954, when things were not looking good, Kroc discovered that a restaurant in San Bernardino kept ordering his mixers in large quantities.

Kroc went to investigate and discovered that it was a drive-in restaurant without any interior seating that was run by two brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald.

When Kroc took over as president of McDonald’s in 1965, he launched a training program for franchise owners that placed a strong emphasis on automation and uniformity of procedures.

Kroc established stringent guidelines for everything from packaging to cooking methods to product quantity. in order for McDonald’s hamburgers to taste the same across the nation.

Up until 1968, Kroc presided over McDonald’s. He then rose to the position of Chairman of the Board, which he held until 1977. Finally, Kroc served as the company’s Senior Chairman from 1977 until his death in January 1984.

What is his net worth?

At the age of 81, Kroc passed away from heart failure in a hospital in San Diego, California on January 14, 1984. His wife Joan Kroc received his estimated $600 million wealth upon his passing. McDonald’s had 7,500 stores and an $8 billion market value at the time of Kroc’s passing.

Personal history and legacy of Ray Kroc

Three times throughout his life, Ray Kroc married. Moreover,  In 1922, Ray wed Ethel Fleming, his high school sweetheart, and together they had Marilyn Kroc. In 1961, the couple got a divorce.

In 1963, Ray kroc married secretary Jane Dobbins Green for a second time; the union disintegrated in 1968.

Kroc wed Joan Kroc, whom he had first met in 1957, in 1969.

Arthritis and diabetes plagued Kroc. He also had a drinking problem. Following a stroke in 1980, Kroc entered a treatment facility to treat his drinking.

Facts

His narrative was adapted into a movie called The Founder, starring Michael Keaton, three decades after his passing in 2016. He is depicted in the movies as one of a successful businessman.
The McDonald brothers initially had no intention of growing their business, but Kroc persuades them to do so.

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