Ray Kroc Biography

Ray Kroc was an American businessman, best known for expanding McDonald’s from a local chain to the most profitable restaurant franchise operation in the world.

Kroc died of heart failure on January 14, 1984 at the age of eight and was buried at El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley, San Diego.

Early life and education of Ray Kroc

Ray Kroc was born Raymond Albert Kroc in Oak Park, Illinois, United States, on October 5, 1902. He was of white American ethnicity and held American citizenship.

Kroc is the eldest child of his parents, Rose Mary and Alois ‘Louis’ Kroc, who were of Czech descent. He had two younger brothers; Robert and Lorraine.

Kroc studied at the Lincoln School in Oak Park. During that time, he excelled in debates, showing a knack for being able to convince people easily. He also went to elementary school. At that time, he began to earn extra money by doing odd jobs at the supermarket or pharmacies.

Ray Kroc’s career

In 1916, at the age of fourteen, Ray Kroc, along with two of his friends, opened a music store, Ray Kroc Music Emporium, where his friends sold sheet music while he played the piano. However, it was closed after a few months.

Kroc then worked for a few months at his uncle’s soda fountain, where he further honed his salesmanship.

In 1919, at the age of seventeen, Kroc began his career in sales, supplementing his income as a pianist at the nightclub or as a DJ at the local radio station. Kroc subsequently did a series of jobs, selling everything from Fort Lauderdale real estate to women’s accessories and adornments.

Young, ambitious, and hardworking, Kroc traveled the country selling paper cups.

Kroc obtained exclusive marketing rights to a joint venture, and at the age of thirty-one, he quit his secure job to form Prince Castle Sales. Initially, the response was good, selling 8,000 mixers in one year.

Open McDonald’s

In 1954, as the situation was rather bleak, Kroc noticed that a restaurant in San Bernardino continued to order his mixers in large quantities.

Curious, Kroc visited and discovered that it was a self-service restaurant with no indoor seating arrangements, run by two brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald.

In 1965, Kroc became president of McDonald’s and began a training program for franchise owners, emphasizing standardization of operations and automation.

Kroc set strict rules about the size of each product, the cooking procedure, the packaging, and more. So that McDonald Hamburger’s tastes the same across the country.

Kroc served as McDonald’s president until 1968. After that, he became chairman of the board, holding the position until 1977. Finally, from 1977 until his death in January 1984, Kroc remained the company’s senior president.

Ray Kroc Net Worth

Kroc died of heart failure in a San Diego, California hospital on January 14, 1984 at the age of eighty-one. Upon his death, his wife Joan Kroc inherited his fortune, estimated at $600 million. At the time of Kroc’s death, McDonald’s had 7,500 locations in 31 countries and was valued at $8 billion.

The personal life and legacy of Ray Kroc

Ray Kroc was married three times in his life. He first married his high school sweetheart, Ethel Fleming in 1922 and had a daughter, Marilyn Kroc. The couple divorced in 1961.

Kroc married a second time to Jane Dobbins Green , a secretary in 1963 and the marriage ended in divorce in 1968.

In 1969, Kroc married Joan Kroc whom he met in 1957.

Kroc had diabetes and arthritis. He was also an alcoholic. In 1980, after suffering a stroke, Kroc entered a rehabilitation center for his alcoholism.

Facts

• Three decades after his death in 2016, his story was made into The Founder, starring Michael Keaton. The movies show him as one of the successful businessmen.
• At first, the McDonald’s brothers didn’t really plan to expand, but Kroc encourages them to.