KFC is owned by Yum! Brands (the United States, NYSE: YUM), which was separated from PepsiCo on 6 October 1997.[1][2] Before Yum! Brands, KFC was owned by PepsiCo from 1986 to 1997.[2]
KFC grew from a roadside restaurant Harland Sanders ran in Kentucky from 1930, where he developed a pressure-frying method and a seasoning blend he began franchising in 1952 at the age of 62. It is the largest chicken restaurant chain in the world and is particularly dominant in China.
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
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PepsiCo spun off its restaurant business as Tricon Global Restaurants, taking KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell out of the drinks and snacks company. PepsiCo had found that operating restaurants competed for capital with its packaged goods brands and complicated its relationships with other chains. Tricon renamed itself Yum! Brands in 2002.
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The parent company of KFC is Yum! Brands, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Yes. KFC originated in the United States in 1930 and its owner, Yum! Brands, is also headquartered in the United States.
Yum! Brands has owned KFC since 6 October 1997.
Before Yum! Brands, KFC was owned by PepsiCo from 1986 until 1997.
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, KFC is still owned by Yum! Brands. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
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