Business: The Big Burger Boss

“I’m not throwing in the towel,” protested Raymond Kroc, 71, the franchise mastermind who created the McDonald’s hamburger empire. “But Fred,” he added, “is like a son who grows up and is ready to take over.” His reference was to Frederick Turner, 40, who last week was named chief executive of McDonald’s, succeeding Kroc, who remains chairman.

Turner, a sandy-haired lowan, started out in 1956 as a short-order cook, frying burgers at Ray Kroc’s first McDonald’s restaurant outside Chicago. Kroc then tapped him to keep an eye on new restaurants; he rose so rapidly that he never had time to claim the McDonald’s franchise Kroc had promised him. As president since 1968, Turner has been in charge of day-to-day operations. Now he will take over some of Kroc’s policy-planning role too.

Turner assumes command at a time of skepticism about McDonald’s chances for continuing its phenomenal growth. The price of the stock has fallen from 76% in late February to 44)4 recently, because of fears that driving curbs will bite deeply into the chain’s business. Turner, however, notes that McDonald’s has lately been building more restaurants in “walking” neighborhoods, especially in cities.

His first announcement as chief executive was that McDonald’s next year will build even more new restaurants than the record 420 it is opening in 1973, and by week’s end the company’s stock had recovered 9% points, closing at 53%.