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McDonald’s is the world’s largest fast-food retailer, operating about 38,000 different locations in more than 100 countries. Responsible for some of the best-known fast-food brands – including the Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish, McNuggets and McFlurry – the company employs more than 200,000 staff and serves close to 70 million customers every day.

The company was founded by Richard and Maurice McDonald in 1940 as a single restaurant in San Bernardino, California and adopted its famous arches logo 13 years later. Much of its growth has been supported by a rapidly expanding franchise model: today, approximately 93% of McDonald’s restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local businessmen and women.