Anyone who has studied McDonald’s’ founder for more than five minutes knows he was ruthless, especially in his early days. He famously said that if he saw a competitor drowning, he would put a hose down their throat.
After buying out the Mcdonald’s brothers, he was infuriated that he didn’t get the original store, which he’d thought was included in the deal.
The McDonald’s brothers were forced to change the name of their restaurant to “The Big M”. Ray was concerned about them being a competitor. So he opened a McDonald’s next door to their establishment to undercut their business. It worked.
Ray wasn’t an entirely vindictive man and did have an occasional flash of morality. For example, he was reluctant to introduce the supersize meal because he felt the extra food was unneeded. He was concerned about the health implications of that much food.
One of the most remarkable facts is that when he founded McDonald’s, he made a gentleman’s agreement with a Coca-Cola executive, Waddy Pratt, that Mcdonald’s would exclusively sell Coca-Cola. That deal continues to this day.