Ray Kroc

A new special.

Ten, ten, and ten.

Ten hamburgers, milkshakes, and fries.

Ten cents each.

Linden was staggered.

A lawyer friend told him it was a clear violation of federal trade regulations.

The competition was trying to drive him out of business, and once he was gone, they'd raise prices.

The lawyer offered to take it to the government.

So Lytton flew to Chicago to ask Kroc what he should do, and Kroc let him have it.

Lytton, you're getting your ears beat down, and it's not right.

We can agree on that, but I'm going to tell you something I feel very strongly about.

The thing that has made this country great is our free enterprise system.

If we have to resort to bringing in the government to beat our competition, then we deserve to go broke.

If we can't do it by offering a better 15-cent hamburger, by being better merchandisers, by providing faster service and a cleaner place, then I would rather be broke tomorrow and start all over again in something else.

Lytton flew back to Tennessee and got to work.

He never complained about competition again.

By the time Kroc wrote his book, Lytton owned 10 McDonald's locations in Knoxville.

Ray Kroc was obsessed with every detail inside a McDonald's.

The thickness of the buns, the temperature of the fries, the number of pickles on a burger, the cleanliness of the parking lot.

No detail was too small to escape his obsessive attention.