KFC began in 1930, when Harland Sanders, then 40, started serving his southern-style chicken at a roadside site in Corbin, Kentucky. He perfected his blend of 11 herbs and spices in 1939, signed the first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in 1952 near Salt Lake City, Utah, and sold the company to investors in 1964. After passing through several corporate owners, KFC has been part of Yum! Brands since PepsiCo spun off its restaurants in 1997.
Born on 9 September 1890 near Henryville, Indiana, Sanders tried several careers before running service stations in Nicholasville and Corbin, Kentucky, where he served food to travellers.
02
Recipe and method
He perfected his secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices in 1939 and used a pressure cooker method to cook chicken faster, according to KFC's own history.
03
Franchising first
The first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise opened near Salt Lake City in 1952. In 1956 Sanders sold his Corbin restaurant and went on the road to sign up franchisees; the bucket arrived in 1957.
04
From founder to corporation
In 1964, with franchises spread across the U.S., Sanders sold the company to investors. KFC later became part of PepsiCo, which spun off its restaurant businesses as TRICON in October 1997; TRICON became Yum! Brands in May 2002.
At the end of 2025 KFC had 33,897 units in 149 countries and territories; 99% were franchised and 90% were outside the U.S., according to Yum!’s fiscal 2025 10-K.
Sales made by others
KFC system sales were $36,434 million in fiscal 2025, while KFC Division company sales were $1,057 million. The gap shows the model Sanders started: franchisees sell, the brand owner collects fees.
Software for the kitchen and counter
In 2025 Yum! introduced Byte by Yum!, a set of proprietary software and AI-driven products for restaurant teams and customers, offered across its brands.
A narrower parent
In 2026 Yum! sold Pizza Hut, closing the last part of the sale on 1 September 2026. KFC is now Yum!’s largest brand alongside Taco Bell and Habit Burger & Grill.
KFC timeline
1930
EventSanders, aged 40, begins serving chicken in Corbin, Kentucky
SourceKFC history
1939
Event11 herbs and spices recipe perfected
SourceKFC history; Yum! 10-K
1952
EventFirst Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, near Salt Lake City
SourceKFC history; Yum! 10-K
1964
EventSanders sells the company to investors
SourceKFC history
1997
EventPepsiCo spins off its restaurants as TRICON
SourceTRICON 10-K
2002
EventTRICON renamed Yum! Brands
SourceYum! 8-K
What it means for you
Codify what makes your product repeatable, as Sanders did with the recipe and the cooking method, before you try to scale it.
Use franchising when others can run units better locally than you can centrally; keep the brand, recipe and standards.
Plan founder succession early: Sanders sold the company in 1964 and became its face rather than its owner.
Read KFC's economics through system sales and franchise fees, not company sales.
Treat technology such as Byte by Yum! as part of the franchise offer: the system now includes the software.
The Business Engineer lens
KFC’s history is the story of a recipe turned into a licensable system, and its next chapter is the same system delivered through software. The Business Engineer view: franchisors that own the operating data and AI tools strengthen the hold that the recipe and brand once gave them.
The complete explainer, cleaned up and reformatted for mobile.
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is an American fast-food restaurant chain founded in 1930 by Colonel Harland Sanders, an entrepreneur who started selling fried chicken from a roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky. From a single restaurant, there were 33,897 KFC units as of 31 December 2025, according to Yum! Brands, across 149 countries and territories (year ended 31 December 2025).
Updated 6 October 2026: we refreshed 8 figures on this page, now taken from SEC EDGAR filings. Anything we could not check against a current source keeps its original year, so you can see how old it is.
Latest figures · checked 6 October 2026
Yum! Brands reports that its KFC Division had 33,897 units in 149 countries and territories for the year ended 31 December 2025, with 90% of units international. SEC EDGAR filings
KFC Division system sales were $36,434 million for the year ended 31 December 2025, and 99% of its units were franchised (Yum! Brands 10-K). SEC EDGAR filings
As of 31 December 2025, Yum! Brands and its subsidiaries employed approximately 49,000 people. SEC EDGAR filings
In the second quarter of 2026 (ended 30 June 2026), KFC Division opened 660 gross new restaurants across 55 countries, according to Yum! Brands. SEC EDGAR filings
Yum! Brands has over 63,000 restaurants in 155 countries and territories, primarily operating under the four concepts of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill. SEC EDGAR filings
KFC history refers to the development of Kentucky Fried Chicken from Colonel Harland Sanders' original restaurant in 1930 to becoming a global fast-food chain.
Source: KFC
Birth and early years
Sanders was born in 1890 on a farm in Henryville, Indiana. When he was five years old, he lost his father which forced his mother to become the breadwinner and secure employment at a cannery.
Key numbersChecked 6 October 2026
$36,434 millionKFC Division system sales were $36,434 million for the year ended 31 December 2025, and 99% of its units…SEC EDGAR filings
33,897Yum! Brands reports that its KFC Division had 33,897 units in 149 countries and territories for the year…SEC EDGAR filings
49,000As of 31 December 2025, Yum! Brands and its subsidiaries employed approximately 49,000 people.SEC EDGAR filings
63,000Yum! Brands has over 63,000 restaurants in 155 countries and territories, primarily operating under the…SEC EDGAR filings
In one lineKentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is an American fast-food restaurant chain founded in 1930 by Colonel Harland Sanders, an entrepreneur who started selling fried chicken from a roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky.
FourWeekMBABusiness EngineerAt a glance
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is an American fast-food restaurant chain founded in 1930 by Colonel Harland Sanders, an entrepreneur who started selling fried chicken from a roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky.
After famously being rejected 1,009 times, the first KFC franchise opened in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1952.
Layout and figures refreshed 6 October 2026. Sources are listed at the end of the article.
Why it mattersFrom the article
The company is also well known for using technology to grow the business, including the use of voice-activated devices and virtual reality-based staff training.
Without the presence of either parent, Sanders was often tasked with cooking for his two younger siblings.
His mother showed him various recipes, including those for pan-fried chicken, country ham, and homemade biscuits.
Fried chicken in a gas station
Sanders dropped out of school at age 12 after becoming horrified at the thought of having to learn algebra.
He then worked on a farm for a few years and subsequently held several titles, including fireman, insurance salesman, and streetcar conductor.
At some point in the early 1930s, Sanders took over the management of a gas station at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains.
Travelers stopping for gas would remark that there were no decent restaurants in the area, so Sanders began cooking his childhood recipes in the station’s cramped storage room.
Sanders served diners in a small area with a single table and six chairs. This, one could argue, constituted the first KFC restaurant.
Buoyed by his success, Sanders then opened the Harland Sanders Court and Café, a motel and restaurant capable of seating 142 diners.
FourWeekMBABusiness EngineerTimeline, as stated in the article
1930
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is an American fast-food restaurant chain founded in 1930 by Colonel Harland Sanders, an entrepreneur who started selling fried chicken from a roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky.
1952
After famously being rejected 1,009 times, the first KFC franchise opened in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1952.
1964
In 1964 at the age of 75 and with over 600 franchises distributing his fried chicken, Sanders sold KFC to a group of investors in a deal worth $2 million.
1969
Thomas eventually founded Wendy’s in 1969 after selling his KFC franchises back to Sanders.
1990
In 1990, Kentucky Fried Chicken was forced to change its name after the Commonwealth of Kentucky trademarked “Kentucky”.
Secret herbs and spices
To cater to the increased demand for his chicken, Sanders then managed to perfect a pressure cooking technique to speed up the cooking process without sacrificing quality.
Franchising
Franchising is a business model where the owner (franchisor) of a product, service, or method utilizes the distribution services of an affiliated dealer (franchisee). Usually, the franchisee pays a royalty to the franchisor to be using the brand, process, and product. And the franchisor instead supports the franchisee in starting up the activity and providing a set of services as part of the franchising agreement. Franchising models can be heavy-franchised, heavy-chained, or hybrid (franchained).
Sanders experienced a reduction in business soon after thanks to the advent of the Second World War.
Gas rationing and the construction of a highway that would bypass his restaurant also reduced tourist numbers.
To protect the viability of his business, Sanders decided to travel around America pitching his fried chicken concept to other restaurant owners.
After famously being rejected 1,009 times, the first KFC franchise opened in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1952.
The now instantly recognizable KFC chicken bucket, with its distinctive red and white stripes, was developed five years later by Dave Thomas.
Thomas was instrumental in the early years of the company, streamlining its menu and encouraging Sanders to appear in advertising commercials and become the face of the brand.
Thomas eventually founded Wendy’s in 1969 after selling his KFC franchises back to Sanders.
However, as part of the deal, he maintained control of Canadian operations and was paid as a KFC brand ambassador for life.
Name changes
In 1990, Kentucky Fried Chicken was forced to change its name after the Commonwealth of Kentucky trademarked “Kentucky”.
The company became KFC, an acronym many consumers were using already.
The modern face of KFC
Today, KFC is owned by Yum! Brands.
The company had to stop using its “Finger lickin’ good” catchphrase in 2020 to encourage safer hygiene practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Modern KFC restaurants offer much more health-conscious menu items that are packaged in more sustainable materials.
The company is also well known for using technology to grow the business, including the use of voice-activated devices and virtual reality-based staff training.
What’s more, trials of so-called “smart restaurants” in China have started where facial-recognition technology is utilized to remember a customer’s favorite foods and offer them personalized suggestions.
Key takeaways:
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is an American fast-food restaurant chain founded in 1930 by Colonel Harland Sanders, an entrepreneur who started selling fried chicken from a roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky.
Sanders held many different jobs but ultimately returned to cooking his childhood food for others in a gas station he managed in the 1930s. War, inflated gas prices, and an interstate bypass then reduced tourist numbers, forcing Sanders to pitch his franchise idea to restaurant owners around the United States.
The first franchise opened in 1952 in Utah, with the number of franchises growing to 600 by the time Sanders sold the company twelve years later. Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC in 1990 after the Commonwealth of Kentucky trademarked the name.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
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