Company History:

With more than 22,000 worldwide locations, Subway-owned and operated by privately held Doctor's Associates Inc.--is almost as ubiquitous as McDonald's, which it overtook in 2001 as the United States' largest fast-food chain. Subway shops are increasingly visible worldwide with shops in 77 countries including the Bahamas, Bolivia, Chile, Cyprus, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Iraq, Paraguay, Russia, and Venezuela. Fred Deluca and Peter Buck, the partners who control this $7 billion (in systemwide sales) private empire, have no immediate plans to take their goldmine public. Their collaboration has become the largest and most successful sandwich franchise in the world. Subway's claim to fame continues to be its freshly made-to-order sandwiches, several of which have seven grams of fat or less--made famous by Jared Fogle, the college student turned Subway poster boy who claimed to have lost 245 pounds eating Subway subs.