KROC, RAY

born Oct. 5, 1902, Chicago, Ill., U.S. died Jan. 14, 1984, San Diego, Calif. byname of Raymond Albert Kroc American restaurateur and a pioneer of the fast-food industry with his worldwide McDonald's enterprise. After serving as an ambulance driver in World War I at the age of 15, Kroc returned to Chicago and held various jobs, including jazz pianist, real-estate salesman, and paper-cup salesman for Lily-Tulip Cup Co. In the early 1940s he became the exclusive distributor for the multimixer, a blender that could simultaneously mix five milk shakes. In 1954 he visited a restaurant in San Bernardino, Calif., that used eight of his mixers. The restaurant was owned by two brothers, Maurice and Richard McDonald, who used an assembly-line format to prepare and sell a large volume of hamburgers, french fries, and milk shakes. Kroc decided to set up a chain of drive-in restaurants based on the McDonald brothers' format, and he agreed to pay the brothers 0.5 percent of gross receipts. The first of Kroc's McDonald's restaurants was opened April 15, 1955, in Des Plaines, Ill. Two more stores were opened that same year, and gross sales amounted to $235,000. Kroc continued to expand McDonald's, selling franchises on the condition that owners manage their restaurants. He instituted a training program for owner-managers and continually emphasized the automation and standardization of McDonald's operations. Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers in 1961 for $2,700,000. By that time he had established 228 restaurants and sales had reached $37,000,000. At the time of his death there were some 7,500 McDonald's outlets worldwide, and three-fourths were run by franchise holders. 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. During his lifetime Kroc was an active supporter of numerous charitable organizations. From 1974 he was the owner of the San Diego Padres professional baseball team.