McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They made their business as a hamburger stand and later turned the company into a franchise, with the Golden Arches logo being introduced in 1953 at a location in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1955, Ray Kroc, a businessman, joined the company as a franchise agent and, in 1961, bought out the McDonald brothers. Previously headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, it moved to nearby Chicago in June 2018. McDonald's is also a real estate company through its ownership of around 70% of restaurant buildings and 45% of the underlying land. McDonald's has over 40,000 restaurant locations as of 2024. The restaurants serve in total over 69 million customers daily, in over 100 countries. McDonald's is the world's second largest fast food restaurant chain by number of locations, surpassed by Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea as of September 2024. McDonald's sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and french fries, with other items on their menu including chicken, fish, fruit, and salads. Wikipedia