For anybody who’s read Rich Dad Poor Dad, you might have been shocked as I was to learn that McDonald’s was not in the hamburger business but that its business was real estate. How could this be?
It turns out that McDonald’s usually owns the property for each franchise. Franchisees pay monthly base rent or percentage rent that is a percentage of monthly sales, in addition to other fees such as service fees, insurance and taxes. So not only is McDonald’s making money from its hamburger business with well located franchises in some of the most valuable street corners in the world, the value of its holdings is also appreciating.
Today McDonald’s is the largest single owner of real estate in the world, even more than the Catholic Church. With 31,000 locations all over the world I can believe that. Check out these pictures of McDonald’s locations all of the world.
