NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - No one ever built a larger business empire around nothing – in this case the hole in the center of a doughnut – than William Rosenberg.

Rosenberg, who achieved fortune but not fame after founding Dunkin' Donuts, died Friday of colon cancer at the age of 86 at his home in Mashpee, Mass., on Cape Cod.

Using a $1,500 war bond and $1,000 in borrowed money, Rosenberg started a chain in 1948 that grew to more than 5,000 locations worldwide, and included such other high-calorie offerings as the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain and Togos, a sandwich chain.

Rosenberg got into the business after operating a truck selling coffee, pastries and sandwiches to factory workers. He decided that since most of his business was doughnuts and coffee he should specialize in those items, opening a store called the Open Kettle in Quincy, Mass., in 1948. And he bucked the convention of offering of only a few varieties by selling 52 kinds of doughnuts. He changed the name to Dunkin' Donuts in 1950.

He never became as famous as other fast-food moguls such as McDonalds' Ray Kroc or KFC's Colonel Sanders. But he did more to expand the waist lines of police officers and other loyal customers. In 1959, after the franchise idea he turned to four years earlier to help his expansion began to catch on, Rosenberg argued at a trade show for the creation of the industry group that became the International Franchise Association.

After handing the company over to his son more than 30 years ago, Rosenberg became involved in harness racing and opened Wilrose Farm in New Hampshire. The company he founded was bought by British food and spirits conglomerate Allied Domecq (AED: Research, Estimates) in 1990.

Rosenberg is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter and a step daughter.