---
title: "NYT: David Edgerton, a Founder of Burger King, Is Dead at 90"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/3ae0b092-2e4c-4d09-b9e3-4a4e9aa2a3ba
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/nyt-david-edgerton-a-founder-of-burger-king-is-dead-at-90-2706315
category: "Burger"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Burger"
published: 2018-04-18T19:14:36.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:39:05.849Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/49aac9db3c0fc2548e3d4304c2c0b26b9279.jpg
---

# NYT: David Edgerton, a Founder of Burger King, Is Dead at 90

**TL;DR:** David Edgerton, a co-founder of Burger King, has passed away at the age of 90. He co-founded the restaurant brand in 1954 and sold it in 1967.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2018-04-18. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/nyt-david-edgerton-a-founder-of-burger-king-is-dead-at-90-2706315).*

## Story

The New York Times has published an obituary for Burger King co-founder David R. Edgerton, who died on April 3 at the age of 90. Edgerton’s death had already been announced in a paid notice in The Miami Herald, but it was reported in few other national publications.

Edgerton co-founded the Burger King restaurant brand in 1954 before selling the company in 1967, just as the chain had started to establish a dominant market share, with 400 locations across twenty states. Edgerton and his co-founder James W. McLamore are credited with conceiving and naming what would become of the most iconic signature items in the restaurant industry, the Whopper.

According to Edgerton’s friend and accountant Betty Amos Righetti, the cause of Edgerton’s death was complications from surgery after a fall. Edgerton died in Miami, where he grew up and helped launch the Burger King chain.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- restaurant industry (topic)
- Burger King (company)
- obituary (topic)
- co-founder (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/nyt-david-edgerton-a-founder-of-burger-king-is-dead-at-90-2706315). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/3ae0b092-2e4c-4d09-b9e3-4a4e9aa2a3ba).