It's probably best to put Kroc into a proper context. Kroc was by no means a saint, but he's often portrayed as a thief, and it isn't quite as evil as everyone makes it out to be, even in this song.
First, he paid $2.7M to the McDonald brothers for the company, which when adjusted for inflation today is around $27M. That isn't a small amount to sell just your company on paper, without selling a location, despite the brothers' claim later that they had a handshake deal for profits with Kroc, which they claimed only after Kroc had grown the franchisees to such a degree.
What McDonald's would eventually become as Kroc's company cannot be compared to the inception that the McDonald bros had created. They would have never grown the company to what it eventually became. Kroc wanted them to grow into franchising even before he offered to buy the whole thing from them, and the brothers resisted. They didn't want to work that hard. They reduced their successful drive-in restaurant to the Speed-Dee system to lesson their workload, not to increase it.
In it's proper context, Kroc spread wealth to others beyond the McDonald brothers, even if the competition had forced smaller restaurants out of business because they could not compete. Kroc created an industry that many, many people were able to prosper from. Many McDonald's franchise owners started out working at a McDonalds. These business owners never would have had the opportunity at all if Kroc hadn't grown the company.
Putting the fast food wages debate aside, the McDonalds corporation employs a lot of people, beyond the staff that work in the restaurants. This addition to the world economy would not happen if it wasn't for Kroc.
None of this is to defend Kroc for being a ruthless business person. But no one cares if Apple or Microsoft has put small computer companies out of business. Apple buys IP from small companies all the time, and no one cares. The public tends to pick and choose who is evil at doing business.
Despite maybe being a d*ck, Kroc does deserves some credit besides "stealing" from the McDonalds.
It's probably best to put Kroc into a proper context. Kroc was by no means a saint, but he's often portrayed as a thief, and it isn't quite as evil as everyone makes it out to be, even in this song. First, he paid $2.7M to the McDonald brothers for the company, which when adjusted for inflation today is around $27M. That isn't a small amount to sell just your company on paper, without selling a location, despite the brothers' claim later that they had a handshake deal for profits with Kroc, which they claimed only after Kroc had grown the franchisees to such a degree. What McDonald's would eventually become as Kroc's company cannot be compared to the inception that the McDonald bros had created. They would have never grown the company to what it eventually became. Kroc wanted them to grow into franchising even before he offered to buy the whole thing from them, and the brothers resisted. They didn't want to work that hard. They reduced their successful drive-in restaurant to the Speed-Dee system to lesson their workload, not to increase it. In it's proper context, Kroc spread wealth to others beyond the McDonald brothers, even if the competition had forced smaller restaurants out of business because they could not compete. Kroc created an industry that many, many people were able to prosper from. Many McDonald's franchise owners started out working at a McDonalds. These business owners never would have had the opportunity at all if Kroc hadn't grown the company. Putting the fast food wages debate aside, the McDonalds corporation employs a lot of people, beyond the staff that work in the restaurants. This addition to the world economy would not happen if it wasn't for Kroc. None of this is to defend Kroc for being a ruthless business person. But no one cares if Apple or Microsoft has put small computer companies out of business. Apple buys IP from small companies all the time, and no one cares. The public tends to pick and choose who is evil at doing business. Despite maybe being a d*ck, Kroc does deserves some credit besides "stealing" from the McDonalds.