McDonald's Corporation

McDonald’s was founded in 1940 by Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernardino, California; Ray Kroc opened the first restaurant under his franchise operation in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955. The company is headquartered in Chicago and has developed from a burger restaurant into a global franchising and restaurant-services business.

McDonald’s had 45,356 systemwide restaurants across 114 countries at the end of 2025. Its model is heavily franchise-led: 96% of restaurants globally were franchised, including 95% in the United States and 90% in the United Kingdom.

The firm is especially strong at standardising restaurant operations across a large international network while adapting menus and marketing locally. Its current priorities include restaurant development, digital ordering and loyalty, delivery, drive-thru operations, supply-chain execution and technology such as AI- and IoT-enabled restaurant systems.