Los Angeles Times

Franchisee created Big Mac

MICHAEL ‘JIM’ DELLIGATTI

- associated press news.obits@latimes.com

You probably didn’t know his name, but you’ve almost certainly devoured his creation: two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun.

Michael James “Jim” Delligatti, the McDonald’s franchisee who created the Big Mac nearly 50 years ago and saw it become perhaps the best-known fast-food sandwich in the world, died Monday at home in Pittsburgh.

Delligatti, who according to his son ate at least one 540-calorie Big Mac a week for decades, was 98.

His franchise was based in Uniontown, not far from Pittsburgh, when he invented the chain’s signature burger in 1967 after deciding customers wanted a bigger sandwich. Demand exploded as Delligatti’s sandwich spread to the rest of his 47 stores in Pennsylvan­ia and was added to the chain’s national menu in 1968.

“He was often asked why he named it the Big Mac, and he said because Big Mc sounded too funny,” his son Michael Delligatti said.

Jim Delligatti told the Associated Press in 2006 that McDonald’s resisted the idea at first because its simple lineup of hamburgers, cheeseburg­ers, fries and shakes was selling well.

“They figured, why go to something else if [the original menu] was working so well?” Delligatti said then. McDonald’s has sold billions of Big Macs in more than 100 countries. When the burger turned 40, McDonald’s estimated it was selling 550 million Big Macs a year, or roughly 17 every second.

Delligatti received no payment or royalties for coming up with the burger.

“Delligatti was a legendary franchisee within McDonald’s system who made a lasting impression on our brand,” the Oak Brook, Ill.-based company said Wednesday. The Big Mac “has become an iconic sandwich enjoyed by many around the world.”

Ann Dugan, a former assistant dean of the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business and an expert on business franchises, said Delligatti’s genius was simple: He listened to customers who wanted a bigger burger.

“In franchisin­g, there’s always this set playbook and you have to follow it. Jim saw an opportunit­y to go outside the playbook because he knew the customer,” Dugan said. “He persevered and [McDonald’s] listened, and the rest is history.”

Delligatti opened his first McDonald’s in Pittsburgh’s North Hills area in 1957. In 1979, he co-founded Pittsburgh’s Ronald McDonald House, then the seventh such facility in the country, where families can stay when children travel for medical care, and he was involved in other charities.

Delligatti also helped introduce breakfast service at McDonald’s, developing the hotcakes and sausage meal to feed hungry steelworke­rs on their way home from overnight shifts.

In addition to his two sons, Delligatti is survived by his wife, Ellie, five grandchild­ren and eight greatgrand­children.

 ?? Gene J. Puskar Associated Press ?? ‘HE KNEW THE CUSTOMER’ Jim Delligatti invented McDonald’s iconic sandwich in 1967. The chain initially resisted the idea.
Gene J. Puskar Associated Press ‘HE KNEW THE CUSTOMER’ Jim Delligatti invented McDonald’s iconic sandwich in 1967. The chain initially resisted the idea.

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