No one could have expected just how huge McDonald’s would become when the first restaurant opened in 1940. While it is now the world’s largest chain fast food restaurant, and makes around $30 billion a year, it was not always so.
The McDonalds brothers sold their equity to Ray Kroc who spearheaded it's worldwide expansion. In the beginning it was a few people working long hours for little pay, and June Martino was one of them.
Originally hired as a bookkeeper, June worked for free for the first nine months and for little more after that. However, Kroc recognized her contributions to the company and stated that she was instrumental in it's growth.June often had an eye for successful business people and converted many customers to franchisers.
Because of her devotion and hard work, Kroc gave June $300,000 when McDonald’s went public in 1965, which is about $1.7 million today, and gave her $5 million in holdings, which is about $28 million today!