What corporate name did McDonald’s adopt in 1960?

McDonald’s adopted the corporate name McDonald’s Corporation in 1960.

The name marked the company’s development from a restaurant operation into a large franchising corporation. Ray Kroc had joined the McDonald brothers’ business as a franchise agent in 1954 and built a rapidly expanding system around standardized restaurant operations and branding.

The corporate change is sometimes confused with other important dates. The McDonald brothers opened their original restaurant in 1940, Kroc opened his first McDonald’s franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955, and Kroc acquired the company from the brothers in 1961. The 1960 name change belongs to the period immediately before that acquisition.

McDonald’s Corporation became the formal business identity behind the chain’s restaurants, trademarks, advertising, and franchise network. The name remains the company’s official corporate name, although individual markets may use local subsidiaries and legal entities.