McDonald’s is the world’s largest fast-food franchise by system-wide sales. “System-wide sales” means the combined sales generated by franchised and company-operated restaurants, rather than McDonald’s corporate revenue alone.
The company’s scale comes from a franchise-heavy model developed after Ray Kroc began expanding the McDonald brothers’ restaurant concept in the 1950s. McDonald’s typically owns or controls important real estate and licenses the brand and operating system to franchisees, who run most locations locally.
A common mix-up is Subway: Subway has often led the fast-food industry by restaurant count, while McDonald’s leads by sales and overall economic scale. Burger King and Wendy’s are major competitors, but neither has surpassed McDonald’s on global system-wide sales.
The next useful distinction is ownership. McDonald’s reports that roughly 95% of its restaurants were franchised at the end of 2023, although the company still earns revenue from company-operated restaurants, rent, royalties and fees.