Most Burger King restaurants are not owned by RBI at all. They belong to franchisees, who pay RBI royalties. More than 95% of RBI's 33,000-plus restaurants are franchised, its 2025 10-K says.
Who owns Restaurant Brands International?
The largest holders, from RBI's 2026 proxy statement (as of April 8, 2026):
| Shareholder | What they hold | Share of the vote |
|---|---|---|
| 3G Capital funds | 99,157,902 exchangeable units of RBI's partnership (90.7% of those units) | 21.7% |
| Capital World Investors | 44,253,362 common shares (12.7%) | 9.7% |
| Pershing Square (Bill Ackman) | 23,142,542 common shares plus 3,942,553 units | 5.9% |
| BlackRock | 22,790,938 common shares (6.6%) | 5.0% |
3G holds its stake through units of RBI's Canadian limited partnership. Each unit can be swapped for one RBI share and votes like one. On August 10, 2026, RBI said 3G had asked to exchange 2,784,549 units and that RBI would buy them back for cash, which leaves 3G with about 96.4 million units, about 21.2% of the vote by my math.
At RBI's closing price of $75.34 on October 23, 2026 (Yahoo Finance), 3G's remaining stake is worth about $7.3 billion.
Who runs Burger King?
| Person | Role | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Joshua Kobza | CEO of Restaurant Brands International | March 2023 |
| J. Patrick Doyle | Executive Chair of RBI; former Domino's Pizza CEO | Director since January 2023 |
| Thomas Curtis | President, Burger King U.S. and Canada | In the role as of April 2026 |
Source: RBI 2026 proxy statement.
Every Burger King owner
| Owner | Years | How they got it | Price paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keith Cramer and Matthew Burns | 1953 to 1959 | Founded Insta-Burger King in Jacksonville, Florida | Founders |
| James McLamore and David Edgerton | 1959 to 1967 | Miami franchisees from 1954; bought the national rights in 1959 and renamed it Burger King | Not reported |
| Pillsbury | 1967 to 1989 | Bought the chain | About $18 million |
| Grand Metropolitan (later Diageo) | 1989 to 2002 | Bought Pillsbury, Burger King's parent; Grand Met merged with Guinness in 1997 to form Diageo | $5.7 billion for all of Pillsbury |
| TPG, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs | 2002 to 2010 | Private equity buyout from Diageo; took Burger King public in May 2006 | About $1.5 billion |
| 3G Capital | 2010 to 2014 | Bought every public share | $24 a share, about $4.0 billion including debt |
| Restaurant Brands International (3G the largest holder) | 2014 to today | Formed when Burger King bought Tim Hortons | Tim Hortons deal valued at about $11.4 billion |
Sources: Wikipedia's History of Burger King for owners before 2006; Burger King Holdings, October 19, 2010; Nation's Restaurant News, 2010; REBusiness, August 2014.
Burger King has been bought four times since 1967: by Pillsbury, Grand Metropolitan, the TPG group and 3G. 3G has been its biggest owner for 16 years, though since the Tim Hortons deal it no longer holds a majority.
Burger King ownership timeline
- 1953
Insta-Burger King opens in Jacksonville, Florida
- 1954
James McLamore and David Edgerton open their first restaurant in Miami
- 1959
McLamore and Edgerton buy the national rights and rename the company Burger King
- 1967
Pillsbury buys Burger King
- 1989
Grand Metropolitan completes its takeover of Pillsbury in January
- 2002
TPG, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs buy Burger King from Diageo in December
- 2006
Burger King goes public on the New York Stock Exchange on May 18
- 2010
3G Capital completes its buyout on October 19
- 2014
Burger King agrees in August to buy Tim Hortons, creating Restaurant Brands International; 3G gets about 51% and Berkshire Hathaway puts in $3 billion of preferred stock
- 2024
RBI buys Carrols, the largest US Burger King franchisee with 1,023 restaurants, on May 16
- 2026
RBI sells about 83% of Burger King China to the fund CPE on January 30; 3G cashes in 2,784,549 units in August
How big is Burger King?
| Measure | Figure | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants in the US and Canada | 7,025 | End of 2025 |
| System-wide sales, US and Canada | $11.6 billion | 2025 |
| US comparable sales growth | 1.6% | 2025 |
| All RBI brands, system-wide sales | Nearly $47 billion | 2025 |
| All RBI restaurants | 33,041 in more than 120 countries | End of 2025 |
Source: RBI 2025 10-K.
RBI reports Burger King outside the US and Canada together with its other brands in one international segment, so a global Burger King-only sales total is not in the 10-K.
Every CEO since the 3G buyout
| CEO | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bernardo Hees | 2010 to 2013 | 3G partner; named Burger King CEO when the buyout closed |
| Daniel Schwartz | 2013 to January 2019 | Burger King CEO from June 2013, then RBI CEO from December 2014; later executive chairman |
| José Cil | January 2019 to March 2023 | Previously president of Burger King |
| Joshua Kobza | March 2023 to today | RBI's first CFO, then COO |
Sources: Nation's Restaurant News, 2010; RBI 10-K filings; RBI 2026 proxy.
Is Burger King owned by McDonald's?
No. Burger King and McDonald's are rivals with no shared ownership. RBI's 10-K calls Burger King the world's second largest hamburger chain by number of restaurants, behind McDonald's.
Related reading
Sources & methodology
Observations retain their source, period and definition. Uncertainty is preserved; missing values are not zero.
- Restaurant Brands International 2026 proxy statement (SEC EDGAR) ↗
SEC EDGAR · 2026-04-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Restaurant Brands International 2025 annual report on Form 10-K (SEC EDGAR) ↗
SEC EDGAR · 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Restaurant Brands International Form 8-K, 3G exchange notice (SEC EDGAR) ↗
SEC EDGAR · 2026-08-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Burger King Holdings and 3G Capital complete transaction (SEC EDGAR, Form 8-K exhibit) ↗
SEC EDGAR · 2010-10-19T00:00:00.000Z
- 3G completes Burger King acquisition (Nation's Restaurant News) ↗
Nation's Restaurant News · 2010-10-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Burger King to buy Tim Hortons for $11.4B (REBusiness) ↗
REBusiness · 2014-08-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Burger King Company Completes Acquisition of Carrols Restaurant Group (RBI) ↗
RBI · 2024-05-16T00:00:00.000Z
- History of Burger King (Wikipedia) ↗
Wikipedia
Accessed 2026-10-25.
- QSR share price (Yahoo Finance) ↗
Yahoo Finance · 2026-10-23T00:00:00.000Z