Over the years I had developed a deep sense of commitment towards our franchisees, and I didn’t want to weaken or tarnish that important relationship. Up to this point our management style had produced superior results and a corporate morale that was at an all-time high. During recent years we had averaged an annual return in excess of 75 percent on equity. We were one of the leading companies in our field. In Burger King's case, by the early 1970s we had opened over eight hundred restaurants and had never experienced a failure.
Timeline
1926 - On May 30th, James Whitman McLamore was born in New York
1943 - Jim started to attend Cornell’s School of Hotel Management
1947 - Jim married Nancy Nichol from Miami
1947 - Jim started running the YMCA Cafeteria in Wilmington, DE
1949 - Jim started his own fast service, 24/7 restaurant, The Colonial Inn, in Wilmington, DE.
1952 - Jim opened the Brickell Bridge Restaurant in Miami
1954 - Jim and Dave Edgerton joined forces in March to co-found Burger King Corporation of Miami
1957 - Dave invents the Flame Broiler
1957 - Jim invents the Whopper sandwich
1958 - First advertising of “Burger King: Home of the Whopper” on television
1961 - Jim and Dave acquire the rights to national and international franchising
1962 - Jim and Dave create Distron for all food distribution to their stores
1962 - Jim and Dave create Davmor Industries for building the kitchen parts
1964 - ‘Whopper College’ is founded to train new franchisees
1967 - Burger King is acquired by the Pillsbury Company for $18 million with 274 stores
1972 - Jim retires as CEO of Burger King
1974 - The ‘Have It Your Way’ campaign is created by Batten, Burton, Dustin, and Osborne.
1979 - Jim and 4 other businessmen buy into the Miami Dolphins from Joe Robbie.
1980 - Jim announces a five-year, $400 million capital campaign to raise money for the University of Miami which was the largest fundraiser in the country to date. He finished raising $517.5 million, the 3rd largest philanthropic raise in America at that time.
1988 - Pillsbury Company with Burger King is acquired by Grand Metropolitan PLC for $5.79 billion.
1993 - Burger King hires Jim Adamson as CEO, and he brings Jim back for advice and consulting with speeches at the National Restaurant Association for his candid insights.
1993 - Burger King launches the Value Meal
1996 - August 8th, Jim McLamore passes away
2002 - Burger King is sold to TPG Capital for $1.5 billion
2010 - Burger King is sold to 3G Capital for $3.26 billion under CEO Daniel Schwartz.
2014 - Burger King merged with Tim Hortons under Restaurant Brands International .
2018 - David R. Edgerton passes away
Panter, James, Burger King: The First 50 Years (1954-2004), The FLAME Magazine, Issue 2, 2004.