Edward H. Rensi (born 1944) is an American businessman who was president and CEO of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold ...

USA from 1991 to 1997. He has been chairman of

FAT Brands FAT Brands is an American multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. History FAT Brands began as a holding company for Fatburger in 2017, gaining a chairman in Ed Rensi. On August 13, 2020, Johnny Rockets was ...

since October 2017.

Early life

Rensi has a bachelor's degree in business education from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

Career

Rensi started working for

in 1966, as "a grill man and part-time manager trainee" in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

, rising to restaurant manager within a year. He was president and CEO of McDonald's USA from 1991 to 1997, and is "credited with development of chicken McNuggets and numerous other innovations". From October 1998 to 2011, Rensi was owner, chairman and CEO of

Team Rensi Motorsports Team Rensi Motorsports was a NASCAR Nationwide Series team owned by Ronnie Russell, Ed Rensi, Gary Weisbaum, and formerly Sam Rensi. The team has also competed in the Winston Cup Series, Craftsman Truck Series, and ARCA racing series. Ed R ...

, a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

car racing team. Rensi was interim CEO of

Famous Dave's Famous Dave's of America is a chain of barbecue restaurants primarily located in t