McDonald's is owned by McDonald's Corporation, which is headquartered in United States. We trace ownership to the ultimate parent — not just the local subsidiary — using public corporate filings and disclosures.

Our ownership score is the weighted sum of seven signals: ultimate ownership (25%), country of control (15%), profit retention (15%), supply-chain localization (15%), manufacturing in India (10%), brand/IP ownership (10%), and leadership control (10%). Full methodology is published at /methodology.

Indian-controlled alternatives in the same category include Haldirams, Wow! Momo. Each alternative is verified against the same ownership framework — strategic control, equity, and economic value retained in India.

McDonald's is primarily mapped to Hospitality & Dining. We map every brand to its primary category and segment so you can compare like-for-like alternatives instead of unrelated products.

We re-verify ownership data on a rolling weekly cadence. Major changes — parent company shifts, classification flips, or score moves greater than 5 points — are published in the public ownership change log within 24 hours.