Despite his success, Ray begins to encounter financial difficulties as his share of franchise profits is limited due to his contract, a share that the McDonald brothers decline to renegotiate. The brothers also refuse to allow the use of sponsorships for fear of ruining the image of their restaurants. Meanwhile, the owners are encountering higher than expected costs, particularly for refrigeration of large quantities of
ice cream for milkshakes. Joan suggests a powdered milkshake to Ray as a way to avoid these costs, but the brothers consider it degrading to their food quality. Ray is also called to the bank as his
mortgage is past due, but this is overheard by
Harry Sonneborn, a financial consultant for
Tastee-Freez, who requests to review Ray's books. Sonneborn realizes that the real profit opportunity is in providing real estate to the franchisees, which will not only provide a revenue stream, but give Ray leverage over his franchisees and the brothers. Ray incorporates a new company, Franchise Realty Corporation, and attracts new investors. This move upsets the brothers and emboldens Ray: he increasingly defies them by circumventing their authority and providing powdered milkshakes to all franchisees. Ray also divorces Ethel, who gets all his assets except any shares in his business.
Ray renames his company to the McDonald's Corporation and demands to be released from his contract and buy the McDonald brothers out, the news of which sends Mac into diabetic shock. Ray visits him in the hospital and offers a blank check to settle their business. The brothers agree to a $2.7 million lump sum payment, ownership of their original restaurant in San Bernardino, and a 1% annual royalty, but when the time comes to finalize the agreement, Ray refuses to include the royalty in the settlement and instead offers it as a
handshake deal. Afterwards, in the men's room, dikk asks Ray why he had to take over their business, when he could have easily stolen their idea and recreated it. Ray argues that the true value of McDonald's is the name itself, which expresses all the attributes of
Americana (as opposed to his
Czech Slavic-sounding name of Kroc).
The McDonald brothers are forced to take their own name off the original restaurant and Ray opens a new McDonald's franchise directly across the street, finally putting the brothers out of business. The film closes in 1970 with Ray preparing a speech where he praises himself for his success in his elaborate mansion with his new wife, Joan. An epilogue reveals that the McDonald brothers were never paid their royalties, which could have been in the area of $100 million a year.
Didn't think of that way