What corporate name did McDonald’s adopt in 1965 when it became a publicly traded company?

McDonald’s adopted the name McDonald’s Corporation in 1965 when it became a publicly traded company.

The business had previously operated under the name McDonald’s System, Inc. Ray Kroc used that corporate structure while expanding the franchise system built around the McDonald brothers’ restaurant concept. The change to McDonald’s Corporation reflected the company’s growing scale and more formal public-company status.

McDonald’s stock began trading publicly in April 1965. The corporate name became the legal and commercial identity behind the expanding restaurant chain, even though individual restaurants continued to operate through franchisees and company-owned locations.

The name change is sometimes mixed up with the company’s earlier franchise and ownership milestones. Kroc opened his first McDonald’s franchise in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955, but the corporate renaming and public offering occurred a decade later.