- What makes Ray Kroc and the brothers different from each other?
Ray is a real wolf and is as persistent as they come. He has high ambitions and isn’t afraid to take risks. On the other hand, the McDonald brothers are constantly analyzing risks and err on the side of caution.
- Do you think the McDonald’s brothers did the right thing by selling out to Ray Kroc? Did Ray Kroc give the brothers a good deal?
No, the McDonald brothers should not have sold the brand. I believe they should have put up a better fight and even if they had lost the fight concerning Ray controlling the real estate they would have still earned much more profit than 2.7 Million had they stayed. No, it wasn’t a fair exchange, but Ray was the only one who saw the real potential in the McDonald’s brand so to the two brothers they saw it as a good enough deal to go through with it.
- How did the local store franchisees make money?
They made their money by operating their restaurant.
- How did Kroc make money? How was that different than the franchisees, running the local stores?
Ray profited from the collection of all the McDonald’s branches and also the real estate. The individual franchisees only made what their restaurant brought in.
- Does this film change your view of McDonald’s?
Yes, it has. I did not know that McDonalds had such a story behind it. I’m shocked thinking that it could have gone down a different path entirely and had it not been for Ray it probably would never have been as big as it is today. I’m surprised at how it was essentially stolen from the founders. From how I see it, Ray had his eyes on taking the brand from the start.
