Ray Kroc

Businessman Ray Kroc has one of the most iconic entrepreneurial stories of the 20th century — and the lavish home to match. Kroc helped turn McDonald's from a single burger joint into a fast-food empire and got incredibly wealthy doing it. Kroc founded the McDonald's Corporation with the help of siblings Richard and Maurice McDonald in a contentious business saga laid out in the documentary The Founder. Kroc retired from running McDonald's in 1974 and died in 1984 at the age of 81. His widow, Joan Kroc, donated most of his fortune to various charities in the remainder of his life.