Back in 1954, Ray Kroc was already in his 50s when he persuaded the McDonald brothers to let him be responsible for a franchising operation. He expanded their clean, efficient, assembly-line style of marketing hamburgers from one location to more than 200 in just seven years. When Kroc died a billionaire in 1984, McDonald's fast-food restaurants were found in all corners of the globe and Kroc was extolled as the “Father of Franchising.”