The legendary life of Khalid Saunders, the founder of KFC, KFC is a household name in China. The smiling old gentleman in a white suit and black bow tie always welcomes tourists from all directions, rain or shine. He is the old man Sanders, who is known as the "king of fried chicken" in America. Saunders was a late bloomer. His own fried chicken recipe is famous for welcoming guests from afar with a family atmosphere in his own small restaurant. It was not until he was 65 years old that he founded KFC fried chicken shop, which made him gain great reputation and wealth. Khalid Saunders was born in Halliwell, southern India on 1890. When Saunders was five years old, his father died suddenly, leaving no property. In order to support three children, my mother had to work in a nearby factory. Young Saunders began to take care of his siblings at home and learned to cook by himself. At the age of seven, he made a piece of bread from meat and sent it to the factory three miles away for his mother to taste, which was praised by his mother and workers. /kloc-When he was 0/2 years old, his mother remarried and his stepfather was very strict with him. His mother often beat him when she went out to work, so he had to leave home to make a living. He has been changing jobs. Nevertheless, he believes that he will succeed in the future. /kloc-When he was 0/6 years old, he lied about his age and joined the army for an expedition to Cuba. During the voyage, he got seasick badly, was sent back to China in advance, and soon retired to his hometown. Joining the army this time left him the title of "Colonel". In order to make a living, he worked as a tram dispatcher, ferry driver and railway worker in the south. While working on the Southern Railway, Saunders met a beautiful young girl Josephine King in Alabama and got married a few months later. Soon after their marriage, they had a lovely daughter. Their son was born in 19 1 1, and their other daughter was born in 19 19. But being Saunders' wife is not easy. He has a bad temper, and the railway work has made him unable to take care of his family for a long time. The relationship between husband and wife is getting worse. 192 1 year, Saunders joined Putian Life Insurance Company to engage in sales promotion, and soon became the company's red man. But it didn't last long, because he fell out with his boss on the bonus issue and resigned. Later, with the encouragement of his friends, he once became a lawyer, but his career did not last long. When he was in court, he had a big fight with his client. In his thirties, Saunders lost his job, but he never lost heart. At the age of 34, he finally found the opportunity to display his talents. He worked as a tire salesman for Michelin and gave full play to his imagination and creativity. His career was very successful. But in 1924, misfortune befell him again. Once driving across the bridge, the supporting wire rope broke, and he fell off the bridge with his car and people. Saunders was injured and could no longer work for that company. His experience as a tire salesman made him feel that cars will be a necessity in the future of the United States, and the refueling industry will be promising. 1930, Saunders moved to Ke Ben, Kentucky, and opened a Shell gas station in this small town that was not prosperous at that time. At that time, the United States was in the Great Depression, and business was very bad in the first week. Everyone must live on oats. Saunders put up a big billboard beside the highway, hoping that business would improve as soon as possible. This led to friction with his competitors around him, and Sanders shot and injured each other, almost being sued for it. Once, the truck driver who came here to refuel complained to him that it was difficult to find a suitable place to eat around. Saunders suddenly felt that he had another development opportunity. He transformed a small storage room into a small restaurant that can accommodate six people and began to teach his wife to cook. He recommended the Kentucky ham and fried chicken made by Josephine to the customers who came to refuel. Everyone felt good after tasting it. After the praise came out, Sanders had to expand his restaurant. Here we are 1934. The small restaurant is too busy to rely on Sanders. They hired a divorced lady Claudia. Claudia is smart, optimistic and cheerful, and doesn't mind Saunders' bad temper at all. Soon, business was booming, and Sanders decided to open a coffee shop next to the gas station. At that time, it took 30 minutes to fry a pot of chicken legs, which made people who came here to taste long queues. Saunders thinks the taste of fried chicken is very important. He began to study seasonings and made his eldest daughter the chief taster. Finally, he founded the secret recipe of 1 1 seasoning, which has not changed so far. By the time Saunders was in his forties, his cooking level had been widely praised. From 65438 to 0935, the governor of Kentucky awarded Saunders the honorary title of "Colonel KFC". The name "KFC" came from this. In the late 1940s, American highway construction rose on a large scale. With the completion of the expressway, Americans began an unprecedented journey. At the same time, with the development of the hotel industry, Sanders discovered this trend and built a hotel next to the coffee shop. At that time, motels had a bad reputation and poor sanitary conditions, so many decent people chose to stay in hotels located in cities. In order to change this prejudice, Saunders made his hotel quite comfortable and clean. He also set aside a room in the center of the restaurant as a model room for people to visit in advance to decide whether to stay here. This has a good promotion effect, and hotels are often full. In the late 1940s, great changes took place in Sanders' personal life. 1947 divorced josephine, and the children were deeply affected. They are very sympathetic to their mother who has worked hard for so many years. 1949165438+1October 17, Sanders married Claudia, and since then, Sanders has started a new life. He became interested in public activities. 195 1 ran for the Senate in and finally lost. This makes Saunders feel that he should focus on what he is good at. While Saunders' restaurant business is booming, the large-scale construction of roads threatens his career development. 1955, a road to be built passed through his restaurant, and Sanders had to sell his 25-year career for 75 thousand dollars. Sanders was 65 years old at this time. In people's opinion, he should retire. But Sanders didn't live on social security like many people, but he still kept his original job. With his own technology and secret recipe, he contacted small restaurants all over the world, taught small business owners the skills of frying chicken, and was strict with them in quality. By 1963, he had controlled more than 600 fried chicken shops. By the age of 75, Saunders felt overwhelmed and felt that he could not support such a huge restaurant chain by himself. In the end, he decided to sell KFC for $2 million. Nevertheless, KFC can't live without Sanders, and the new owner continues to ask Sanders to shoot TV commercials to promote this increasingly popular fast food. The success of KFC made its new owner decide to issue shares and offer Saunders 65,438+0,000 shares as part of the purchase price. But Saunders never believed in stocks, and he refused. People comment: That's why Sanders didn't become a billionaire. Later, the company's stock soared, and even his secretary made millions. By 1968, KFC has more than 20,000 employees, and 2 1 person has become a millionaire. KFC sold for seven years and then changed hands. 197 1 year, Hebrew company acquired KFC chain store for $280 million. Since then, Sanders' image has appeared in KFC's packaging and advertisements, but other than that, he has nothing to do with KFC. Saunders is deeply influenced by the rapid development of fast food industry. At the age of 83, he and his wife Claudia opened a French fast food restaurant. However, Hebrew Company prohibited Saunders from using his head as a signboard, believing that this conflicted with the trademark they used. This made Sanders very surprised and sad. Saunders said that he has been very generous in helping others, but now he is even deprived of the right to use his name and avatar. 1974 65438+ 10, Sanders sued Hebrew company, claiming that it interfered with his right to operate independently and demanded compensation of 654.38+22 million dollars. For Sanders, who is not greedy, the lawsuit is not for money, but for justice. Hebrew Company later sought an out-of-court settlement. 1in June, 980, Saunders was diagnosed with cancer, but it didn't destroy his spirit. He said, "People often complain about the bad weather. In fact, it is not bad weather, but different good weather. " 1980 12, Sanders died at the age of 90. All KFC branches mourned the old man, and even its rival McDonald's lowered its flag at half mast. Saunders died and was buried in Kivohal Cemetery in Kentucky. The bust statue erected there was also built by him before his death. When he was alive, he often touched the statue and looked at it. Now, his cemetery has become a famous scenic spot. Today, there are more than 10000 KFC branches in the world. Saunders' smiling face has not become history, and he is still welcoming groups of diners.