The Desmarais family controls Power Corp. of Canada, whose interests include stakes in giant companies on three continents. The clan is sometimes described as the closest thing Canada has to business royalty, its power amplified by close ties to presidents, prime ministers, bureaucrats and business titans all over the world. Founded by Paul Desmarais, a [...]
Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores and grocery stores. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 and today has 11,539 stores and clubs in 28 countries. It is the world's largest company by revenue, according to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2016, [...]
Gordon Food Service is the largest family-operated broadline food distribution company in North America with an estimated $11.7 billion in annual sales. The company was founded in 1897 by Isaac van Westenbrugge, a 23-year-old Dutch immigrant, and later expanded by his son-in-law Ben Gordon. The company today supplies restaurants and cafeterias across the US and [...]
Goya Foods, Inc. is a producer of a brand of foods sold in the United States and many Hispanic countries including Spain, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The company founded in 1936 by Prudencio Unanue Ortiz and his wife Carolina, is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. Today, the Unanue family still owns Goya, [...]
The bid by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to take over Irish new media company Wireless Group has received backing from more than 92% of Wireless shareholders. According to a joint statement, the cash offer, announced in June and valuing Wireless at £220 million ($289 million), will stay open to remaining shareholders until further notice. The [...]
As per a recent proposal by the US government, it would become harder for wealthy business owners to transfer assets to heirs without paying estate and gift taxes. This proposal would make it harder for taxpayers to claim valuation discounts to reflect the diminished value of minority interests. These discounts are currently permitted because some [...]
Ferrero International SA is an Italian manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products and the third biggest chocolate producer and Confectionery Company in the world. It was founded in 1946 by Pietro Ferrero. The company, remains wholly owned by the Ferrero family, and generates €9.5 billion ($10.52 billion) in annual revenue. Its products include Ferrero [...]
Henkel, founded in 1876, is publicly listed and family-controlled. The German multinational makes industrial and household products including detergent and glue. In the fiscal year 2015, Henkel reported sales of 18.1 billion euros and an operating profit of 2.9 billion euros. More than 80 percent of its 50,000 employees now work outside of Germany. Its [...]
L'Oréal is a French cosmetics company founded in 1909 by Eugène Paul Louis Schueller. The founding family still owns close to 33% shares in the company that is today the world's largest cosmetics company. The company has a history of making big acquisitions. In 2006 it acquired The Body Shop for £562 million, while in [...]