“I was an overnight success, okay, but 30 years is a long, long night. » –Ray Kroc. Ray Kroc was indeed an overnight success; he essentially created a multi-million dollar franchise out of a small restaurant he didn't even own. Kroc intended to make high-quality hamburgers that “taste the same in Alaska as they do in Alabama,” and that slogan changed the world forever. Ray Kroc was an influential person of the 20th century because he built a Fortune 500 restaurant from an idea. technically it wasn't even his, set a standard for all fast food restaurants to follow, and left the historic legacy of a man who won everything thanks to another man's mistake. “Amassing a $500 million fortune, the hamburger king transformed the country's cultural landscape and forged an industry that is among America's greatest exports. » (Wiley) Ray Kroc was 37 years old when he started a Fortune 500 fast food restaurant. Before starting this franchise, he was a high school dropout and sold cups for Lily-Tulip Cup Company. While selling mugs, he quickly becomes the company's top salesman. After seeing a Multimixer, he left Lily and spent a decade selling them to drugstores and restaurant owners. A small restaurant in San Bernardino, California, ordered eight machines. Interested in the people who placed this order, Kroc traveled to California to see for himself what kind of restaurant needed to produce 40 milkshakes at a time. There he found a small hamburger stand run by two brothers, Richard and Mac McDonald” (Ray Kroc Story). The McDonald brothers' restaurant was unlike any other restaurant. This restaurant was self-service, had no indoor seating, and was limited to cheeseburgers, hamburgers, fries, drinks, and milkshakes, all produced... middle of paper. .I think most restaurants and fast food companies would exist today. Ray Kroc created and left the legacy of a man who can become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world with just a little elbow grease and a dream. As one could see just by walking around a city, McDonalds or Ray Kroc have indirectly had an impact on life as we know it through its fast food chain. Ray Kroc is an influential person of the 20th century because he built a Fortune 500 restaurant from an idea that wasn't technically even his, set a standard for all fast food restaurants to follow, and left the historical legacy of a man who gained everything from another man's mistake. Kroc changed the world with burgers and fries, and to me, that's a very good change. “The definition of salesmanship is the gentle art of letting the customer do what they want.” - Ray Kroc (Ray Kroc)