Defamation of character is a term that is used to describe when false statement is written or spoken about an individual with the intent of harming or slandering their reputation. Unfortunately, defamation of character claims are extremely difficult to be proven in the court of law despite the fact that they are The Law Dictionary Featuring Black's Law Dictionary Free Online Legal Dictionary 2nd Ed.
McDonald's is a publicly-traded corporation, but most of its retail branches are not owned or operated by the company itself. Instead, they are owned by independent business owners through franchise agreements.
With the McDonald brothers out of his way, Kroc was free to run the company as he saw fit. By 1965, he had opened more than 700 restaurants in 44 states. In April of that year, McDonald's became the first fast-food company to go public. Stock was issued at $22 per share.