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Chick-News.com Poultry Industry News, Comments and more by Simon M. Shane

Passing of John Y. Brown, Jr.

11/27/2022

One-time owner and developer of the KFC brand, John Y. Brown, Jr., an attorney by profession, died on November 22nd in his hometown of Lexington, KY at the age of 88.  In 1964, Brown purchased the technology and rights for Kentucky Fried Chicken from founder, Colonel Harland Sanders for $2 million, representing $20 million in current value.  Over a seven-year period, Brown promoted and franchised KFC, establishing 600 restaurants in the U.S and expanding internationally by 1971.  He sold the enterprise to Heublein, Inc., a liquor company, intending to diversify into food.  The sale that netted $30 million, (equivalent to $225 million in 2022 value) allowed Brown to enter politics. 

 

Following his marriage in 1979 to Phyllis George, a sportscaster and former Miss America. He won a single term as Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1979. He operated the state as a business, reducing expenditure by shrinking the bloated workforce of government employees and actively promoting Kentucky as a favorable business environment.  He withdrew from the 1984 Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat due to incapacitation following bypass surgery during the last year of his tenure as Governor.

 

His later career included investment in a number of enterprises, including a KFC clone, none of which achieved the stellar the success of the original brand under his ownership.


 
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