Glen W. Bell Jr., a business man known as the founder of Taco Bell, has died at age 86. Read more on Glen Bell’s death below.

The founder of Taco Bell, Glen Bell, reportedly died on Sunday at his Rancho Sante Fe home.  There was no cause of death given.

“Glen Bell was a visionary and innovator in the restaurant industry, as well as a dedicated family man,” Greg Creed, the president of Taco Bell said in his statement on the Taco Bell website.

Bell opened his first restaurant, called Bell’s Drive-In, in 1948 in San Bernardino after he saw how successful McDonald’s had become.

Glen Bell later opened Taco Tias in Los Angeles, El Tacos in the Long Beach area, and Der Wienerschnitzel, which is a hot dog chain.

Then Bell launched Taco Bell in 1962 and quickly expanded around Los Angeles, selling his first Taco Bell franchise in 1964. Then in 1978, Bell sold his 868 Taco Bell restaurants to PepsiCo for $125 million in stock.

Taco Bell is now owned by Yum! Brands and is still the largest Mexican fast-food chain in the United States.

Glen Bell is survived by his wife, Martha, three sisters, two sons and four grandchildren.

A private funeral is planned.

Click thumbnails for larger pictures

images: pr

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