Harland Sanders, aka Colonel Sanders, built Kentucky Fried Chicken into a roadside sensation, then sold it in 1964 for just $2 million, keeping a lifetime salary and the face of the brand. The 73-year-old then also secured a $40,000 annual stipend, later indexed to inflation, and a contract guaranteeing his white-suited likeness in advertising, transforming him into the world's most recognizable living fast-food pitchman.
Seven years later, investors flipped the chain to packaged-foods giant Heublein Inc. for $285 million, an eye-popping payday that left the colonel feeling sidelined.
