McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food restaurant chain. Founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernardino, California, the company has grown into one of the world's largest restaurant chains. At the end of 2025, the McDonald's system comprised 45,356 restaurants in more than 100 countries, approximately 95% of which were operated by franchisees.

The McDonald brothers introduced their streamlined food-production system, later known as the Speedee Service System, during the 1940s. The Golden Arches design was introduced in 1953. Businessman Ray Kroc became a McDonald's franchise agent in 1955 and opened a restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois. He purchased the brothers' ownership stake in the company in 1961 and oversaw its domestic and international expansion.

McDonald's generates revenue from sales at company-operated restaurants and from rent, royalties, and fees paid by franchisees. At the end of 2025, the company owned approximately 56% of the land and 80% of the restaurant buildings within its consolidated markets. McDonald's directly employed more than 150,000 people, while more than two million additional people worked at independently operated franchised restaurants.

The company's menu is centered on hamburgers and French fries, with other offerings including chicken, breakfast items, soft drinks, coffee, desserts, and products adapted to local markets. Its best-known products include the Big Mac and its French fries. The company has faced criticism concerning the nutritional content of its food, treatment of animals, environmental impact, and employee wages and working conditions.