Who is the Owner of KFC?
Who really owns KFC today? Get the facts on KFC's founder Colonel Sanders, parent company, and its current CEO.
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KFC is one of the most famous fast food brands in the world. It is known for its delicious food and the famous face of Colonel Sanders on its logo is nothing new for anyone. But have you ever thought about who was the mind behind this brand? How did the company start and who currently owns it? Well, they are not the same person as this brand has been passed down for generations. Here is everything you need to know about who is the owner of KFC.
Who Was the Founder of KFC?
The brand was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders, and he lived from 1890 to 1980. He started to sell fried chicken from a roadside restaurant that was in Corbin, Kentucky. He sold this chicken during the Great Depression. He had his special recipe that used a mix of herbs and spices and that was the secret behind KFC's taste.
It was during the 1950s when he started franchising his business. He allowed people to open restaurants using his recipe and charged a small fee for it.
By the late 1960s the business became quite big in the United States and later it reached the world and Colonel Sanders became one of the most recognizable faces in the fast food industry.
Who is the Owner of KFC?
Now here is a twist as now Colonel Sanders or KFC itself doesn’t own the company. Now KFC is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands which is a restaurant company and it also owns the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains
The owners of the company have changed over the years such as Heublein, and later it was taken over by Pepsi Co. and it owned the brand for many years. Later Pepsi Co. made their restaurant division as a separate company called Tricon Global Restaurants.
This name again changed to Yum! Brands. This simply means that overall the brand is currently the subsidiary of Pepsi Co.
Who is the CEO of KFC?
The CEO of Yum! Brands and KFC are different. Chris Turner became the CEO of Yum! Brands on October 1, 2025 after David Gibbs retired. Earlier Chris was the Chief Financial Officer of Yum! Brands.
The CEO of KFC is Scott Mezvinsky who took charge on March 1, 2025. He reports directly to the CEO of Yum! Brands.
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