A Formidable Number of Millionaires Today Trace Their Emergence Into Financial Freedom To Franchising

Ray Kroc
McDonald’s    
Included in the TIME 100 list of the world's most influential builders and titans of industry. Amassed a $500 million fortune during his lifetime.

Tom Monaghan
Domino’s Pizza
Went from orphan to Billionaire. Has donated about $500 million to charity. Still has more than $500 million. He is also owner of the Detroit Tigers baseball team. Domino’s operates more than 7,750 locations in more than 50 countries.

Fred DeLuca
Subway
Started franchising in 1974. Today he’s a 56-year old self-made billionaire with a net worth of $1.5 billion and over 22,000 locations in 77 countries.

Art Bartlett
Century 21
Century 21 began as a small California real estate office opened by Art Bartlett and Marsh Fisher in 1971. By 1975, Century 21’s sales exceeded one billion dollars and the company went public in 1977.

Irv Robbins
Burt Baskin
Baskin-Robbins
Irv Robbins and Burt Baskin opened the first Baskin-Robbins in 1947. From that one California shop, Irv and Burt’s establishment has spread throughout the United States and across the globe. Today there are more than 1,250 locations worldwide.

Gary Heavin
Curves
Opened first Curves Fitness Center in Texas in 1992. Now he’s a multi-millionaire with over 8,000 locations opened in 13 years in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Mexico.

Wayne Huizenga
Blockbuster Video
Billionaire founder opened first store in 1985 and grew it into a multi-billion dollar company with more than 5,000 locations in the US plus 2,500 international locations. He's also currently the owner of the Miami Dolphins football team.

Ron Joyce
Tim Horton’s
A former Hamilton police officer who became Tim Horton’s first store manager and eventually bought the chain in the early days when Tim Horton died. Today he is worth $810 million with over 1,500 stores across Canada

Frank O’Dea
Second Cup Coffee
O’Dea was once homeless in Toronto living in 50-cent-a-night flop houses. Now has over 400 cafes across Canada.

Dave Thomas
Wendy’s
Another orphan, Thomas opened his first Wendy's in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969. At the time of his death in 2002, there were over 6,000 Wendy's restaurants operating in North America.

Colonel Sanders
KFC Corp.
Started Kentucky Fried Chicken at age 66. At the time he was receiving a Social Security check from the government in the amount of $105.00 per month. Now, KFC has grown to be one of the largest quick service food service systems in the world and there are more than 11,000 KFC restaurants worldwide.