Who founded Dunkin' Donuts, a major franchise brand, in 1950?

William Rosenberg founded Dunkin' Donuts in 1950.

Rosenberg opened his first doughnut-and-coffee shop in Quincy, Massachusetts. The business initially operated as the Open Kettle, which he had launched in 1948 after noticing that coffee and doughnuts generated about 40 percent of the revenue in his industrial catering operation. He renamed it Dunkin’ Donuts in 1950.

Rosenberg brought a distribution-minded approach to the business. Instead of offering only a handful of standard doughnut varieties, the early shop sold 52 kinds. After opening his sixth store in 1955, he began franchising, helping turn a local Massachusetts concept into a national chain.

A frequent mix-up is to credit other famous franchise founders, such as Glen Bell of Taco Bell or Tom Monaghan of Domino’s. Rosenberg was also an important figure in franchising beyond Dunkin’: he advocated for an industry trade association that became the International Franchise Association in 1960. The company later dropped “Donuts” from its public brand name in 2018.