Ray Kroc

Raymond Albert Kroc

• Born October 5, 1902 in Oak Park, IL
• Died January 14, 1984 in San Diego, CA

Biographical Information

Ray Kroc brought the McDonald's restaurant chain to Des Plaines, IL in 1955 and expanded it into a global franchise. In 1974, he bought the San Diego Padres. During the 1974 home opener, Kroc took the public address microphone and apologized to the fans for the poor play on the field. He owned the team until his death in early 1984; that year the Padres reached the World Series. His wife, Joan Kroc, succeeded him as owner of the Padres. She sold the team in 1990 for $75 million dollars to a group headed by Tom Werner and passed away at the age of 75 in 2003.

In 2016, his life story was told in the feature film The Founder, directed by John Lee Hancock. The film focuses on his founding of McDonald's and ends before his purchase of the Padres, however.

Related Sites

• Ray and Joan Kroc at the SABR Bio Project
• Article on Kroc's time as Padres owner
• Ray Kroc at the NNDB data base

Padres Owners
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C. Arnholt Smith	Ray Kroc (1974-84)	Joan Kroc