The word franchise doesn't appear in the article. It's light on detail, but I think it's more likely he completed a management training program, and was then gi

The word franchise doesn't appear in the article. It's light on detail, but I think it's more likely he completed a management training program, and was then given a store to manage. It's not uncommon for a manager to receive a percent of profits as compensation. He then saved enough to put a down payment on his own store. I.e. he worked very hard, continually leveraged his assets to expand, and was (for a time) successful.