【美国人物志】雷·克拉克（6/6）

英语自学网

雷·克拉克（Ray Kroc，1902年10月5日－1984年1月14日），美国企业家，生于伊利诺伊州。1955年，他接管了当时规模很小的麦当劳公司的特许权，将其发展成全球最成功的快餐集团之一。他被《时代》杂志列为全球最有影响力的企业创始人之一。1974年开始，他成为圣地牙哥教士棒球队老板。
Hints:
Kroc Foundation
Ronald McDonald
Ray Kroc
McDonald's
California
the San Diego Padres
Des Plaines
Illinois
Oak Park
Ray Kroc
McDonald's

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In later years, Ray Kroc established the Kroc Foundation, a private organization that gives money to help others. He also established a number of centers that offer support to families of children who have cancer. They are called Ronald McDonald houses. Many people praised Ray Kroc for his company's success and good works. But other people sharply criticized him for the way McDonald's treated young employees. Many of the workers were paid the lowest wage permitted by American law. Health experts still criticize McDonald's food for containing too much fat and salt. In the 1970s, Ray Kroc turned his energy from hamburgers to sports. He bought a professional baseball team in California, the San Diego Padres. He died in 1984. He was 81 years old.
That first McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, was torn down. It was replaced by a store and visitors center that attempts to copy what was in the original building. Another museum in nearby Oak Park describes the life of Ray Kroc. Ray Kroc's story remains an important part of McDonald's history. And his way of doing business continues to influence fast food restaurants that feed people around the world.