In case anyone was curious, I have collected some context from McDonald's 10-K filing on March 1, 2017 available at http://corporate.mcdonalds.com/mcd/investors

In case anyone was curious, I have collected some context from McDonald's 10-K filing on March 1, 2017 available at http://corporate.mcdonalds.com/mcd/investors/financial-information/sec-filings.html http://corporate.mcdonalds.com/mcd/investors/financial-infor... : At year-end 2016, McDonald's had ~37k restaurants, of which ~15% were company-operated and 85% were franchised. (The filing expresses a long-term goal to be ~95% franchised.) Of the franchised restaurants, ~70% were "conventional franchisees". Under both the company-operated and conventionally franchised models, McDonald's "generally owns the land and building or secures long-term leases". I believe it is this real estate-focused setup that drives the comparison between WeWork and McDonald's in various comments.