Neal Baker died today. No, I didn’t recognize the name either. But he is a common name in the Inland Empire, and was actually the man responsible, directly or indirectly, for the founding of the McDonalds, Taco Bell, Del Taco, Der Wienerschnitzel, and of course the regional chain, Bakers Drive In. Read the obit–it’s fascinating.
He died a multimillionare, and never franchised his chain out of the Inland Empire. Why? He said it best in a 2004 interview: “When you have a successful business and you make more money than you can ever spend, why do you need to get bigger? I’m very happy with the way things have turned out.”
