"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 rechristened 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 (which it leases to its franchisees).

"McDonald's is the world's largest fast food restaurant chain by number of locations, serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries in more than 40,000 outlets as of 2021. McDonald's is best known for its hamburgers, cheeseburgers and french fries, although their menu also includes other items like chicken, fish, fruit, and salads. Their bestselling licensed item is their french fries, followed by the Big Mac. The McDonald's Corporation revenues come from the rent, royalties, and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. McDonald's is the world's second-largest private employer with 1.7 million employees (behind Walmart with 2.3 million employees), the majority of whom work in the restaurant's franchises."  (Wikipedia)

"Once again, though, the behemoth that is McDonald’s cannot be beat. It doesn’t have the highest number of locations in the U.S., but McDonald’s does have the highest number of locations globally, presumably because it exists in more markets than both Starbucks and Subway," the Quartz reports.

"It’s also, unsurprisingly, the world leader in terms of total sales. Restaurant Business notes that McDonald’s generated nearly $120 billion in global systemwide sales in 2022, while Starbucks generated $28.1 billion, and Subway only $15.6 billion."

"With its presence in over 100 countries across the globe, McDonald’s is undoubtedly the biggest fast-food chain in the world. About one-third of its stores are in the United States," the Pickcel reports.

"Serving over 69 million customers per day, the annual revenue of McDonald’s was $25.757B as of June 30, 2024. It’s well known for its clown figurine, and some of its most loved items include the Big Mac, Double Cheeseburger, Filet-O-Fish, and Egg McMuffin."

"Ray Croc envisioned that there will be 1000 McDonald’s in the United States. If you look at the numbers today, there are over 38,700 restaurants in more than 100 countries. Many factors contributed to the popularity of McDonald’s, let’s have a look at them," The Enterprise World says.

"The restaurant serves around 40, 275 locations. That includes 118 countries and about 69 million people per day. Since 2012, their number of locations has increased steadily, from 34,480 to 40,031 in 2021. In just a year, from 2020 to 2021, the restaurant opened 833 locations worldwide.

"Their Global Annual revenue figure for 2022 is $23.18 billion. This is a slight decline from 2021 when it reached $23.22 billion, the most year-on-year revenue increase for the brand in a decade. The number of employees working directly for McDonald’s is 200,000. This excludes the two million people employed by the independent franchisees."

"McDonald’s remains the global leader, with 41,822 locations. That puts Starbucks well within striking distance, at least in terms of locations. Last November, Starbucks said it plans to add just under 15,000 locations outside of the U.S. by 2030," the Fortune reports.

"McDonald’s saw sales of roughly $120 billion that year. There has been consumer pushback to increasingly high prices at the fast-food giant, though. That has prompted McDonald’s to bring back “affordability” to its menu.

"The chain also could have another hit on its hands with its Starbucks competitor CosMc’s, which saw people waiting hours in line when it first opened."

"Taking the top spot with ease, the Mac Daddy and OG of fast food chains is McDonald’s! From young kids excited about Happy Meals to adults looking for that familiar bite of a Big Mac, their menu is for everyone," the Fast Food Club reports.

"You’re in for a treat with their classic burgers, chicken nuggets, breakfast meals, and seasonal specialties! What sets them apart is their innovations throughout the years while still having that comfort food quality that we all love. Well-known as the biggest fast food chain globally, its universal appeal resonates with customers across diverse cultures and tastes."

"Since its founding, the enterprise has about 38,000 restaurants globally, serving nearly 68 million customers in 118 countries daily," the Investopedia says.

"That represents about 1% of the world's population who want burgers, fries, and/or chicken nuggets as quickly as possible.86 It has become the most popular family restaurant, appealing to children and adults, and has emerged as a dominant force in the quick-service restaurant market.

"McDonald's is ruled as one of the most valuable fast-food chains in the world, with a brand value of $222 billion in 2024.9 The company is consistently among the leaders of this market segment in terms of brand recognition, overall sales, and the number of restaurants globally, along with Starbucks (SBUX), KFC, Domino's, and Subway."

"McDonald's Corporation stands as a global leader in the fast-food industry. Renowned for its diverse menu, the chain offers hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken, french fries, soft drinks, milkshakes, a variety of desserts, a vegan menu and more. In the world of fast-food, few names resonate as loudly as McDonald's," the Fox Business reports.

"McDonald’s is presently in 119 countries, where it has more than 35,000 restaurants and where more than 68 million customers are served daily, reports historyoffastfood.com. The restaurant chain recently opened a spin-off called CosMc's in December 2023 in Bolingbrook, Illinois.

"Statistics reveal that the "small-format, beverage-centric" establishment experienced more than twice the foot traffic compared to the average McDonald's location chainwide in December 2023, as per insights from the business analytics platform Placer.ai"

"McDonald's is the largest restaurant chain in the world and an undeniable icon in the world of fast food, so it should come as no surprise that it snagged the top spot in a brand-new ranking of America's most loved chains. However, the chain that scored second place in this new ranking may not be one that consumers would expect,"  the eatthis.com says.

"McDonald's led every other chain by a landslide in the analysis. It receives 22.9 million searches on average each month, while all of the other chains' average monthly searches haven't even cracked 16 million.

""To see McDonald's dominate the top spot is not too surprising. After all, it continues to reign supreme in profits and number of customers globally," a PriceListo spokesperson said in a statement on the research findings."

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