Does Teresa OWN Heinz?

[TexasSissy]

Or is she a member of the board or what? Someone e-mailed me a story making the rounds about how she owns Heinz, and they have 32 factories in countries around the world and outsource jobs, blah, blah, blah. Which makes Kerry an owner and outsourcer. You get the picture.

I was under the impression, however, that she doesn't really own the company. Few megacompanies are owned by one person. And having a global corporation does not mean that you are outsourcing American jobs, anyway. It is a-ok to have a company in Brazil...unless you're really an American company merely SAYING you're in Brazil, for the purpose of using cheap labor, or unless you're actually IN America and outsourcing jobs to cheap labor in Brazil.

Anyone know the scoop?

[greenbriar]

1. she has NO say what so ever

in the company

[slinkerwink]

2. no. she owns like 4% of Heinz stock and that's all

[Liberal Veteran]

3. No member of the Heinz family has worked for Heinz or controlled it since.

...1987.

Indeed their Chairman, President and CEO, William Johnson is a REPUBLICAN.

[Placebo]

4. She Has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE HEINZ CORPORATION!

She is the head of the Heinz Family Endowments. She recieves no salary or money from the Heinz Company. She distributes money to charities and such.

She never ran the company, her husband was the heir to the Heinz fortune and when he died she took over the endowments.

"Following the death of her husband, she became chairman of The Howard Heinz Endowment and the Heinz Family Philanthropies. Under her leadership, the Heinz foundations are widely known for developing innovative strategies to protect the environment, improve education and the lives of young children, reduce the cost of prescription drugs, promote the arts and help women achieve financial economic security. She established the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement in 1996 to educate women about pensions, savings, and retirement security."

[napi21]

10. Can't we get this info on the national media?

I've gotten this BS sooo many times, and I keep sending the snopes link and the info from the Heinz Corp. but the thing keeps on going. Why can't the national media just tell everybody the real deal? I'm getting really tired of this story.

[Liberal Veteran]

12. It already is. Here's the FOX news version and they STILL don't get it.

WASHINGTON — Though John Kerry's wife is an heir to the H.J. Heinz Co. (search) fortune, the food company and its executives are providing President Bush with money and a campaign issue -- jobs flowing overseas -- in this year's election.

Members of the board of the Fortune 500 (search) company and its corporate political action committee have donated thousands of dollars to Republicans in recent years, including contributions to the Bush campaign. The corporate PAC has given nothing to Kerry.

No Heinz family member has been employed by the company or served on its board since H.J. "Jack" Heinz II, its chairman, died in 1987.

Heinz Kerry, who heads the separate Heinz Family Foundation (search) and the Howard Heinz Endowment (search), owns less than 4 percent of the company's stock. Major Heinz stockholders include the company's top executives, led by Chairman William R. Johnson, former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and pro football Hall of Famer Lynn Swann as well as beer magnate Peter Coors (search), who is running for the Republican nomination for the Colorado Senate seat.



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,117678,00.html

[Placebo]

14. JESUS that's scary...

how do these people call themselves journalists or reporters???

[ProdigalJunkMail]

20. why is that scary?

I didn't have time to read the whole article...but the snippit there seems right. It says she has no control in the company. Why is that story frightening...it seems to me that it is saying that, "even though she is heir to the fortune, the company is doing its own thing...with no regard to her current political affilitation." And that is as it should be...she is just a small percentage stock holder. It seems to me to be pointing out that she has nothing to do with the decisions that are being made there that are a detriment to the companies American employees.

I could be wrong...like I said...didnt' read the whole article.

theProdigal

[NYCGirl]

5. Here's the information:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/kerry/heinz.asp

Neither Mrs. Heinz Kerry nor Senator Kerry nor any of the Heinz trusts or endowments — either individually or collectively — holds a significant percentage of shares of the H.J. Heinz Company. In 1995 the Heinz Endowments and family trusts sold a large percentage of Heinz shares in a secondary share offering to diversify their holdings. As a result, their current holdings are under 4 percent.

There is no connection between any philanthropic programs of the H.J. Heinz Company and its Foundation and the Heinz family interests (including the Howard Heinz Endowment, the Vira Heinz Endowment, and the Heinz Family Philanthropies).

(A 4% stake in a company as large as Heinz still represents a considerable amount of money, but it isn't nearly large enough a share to give the holder any significant control or influence over the company's business decisions.)

Moreover, the Heinz Company's operations are not an example of the type of outsourcing that is currently a hot political issue (i.e., sending out work to offshore companies to provide services which a company might otherwise have employed its own staff to perform). Heinz is a U.S.-based global business which sells its products in dozens of other countries, and like other food companies it has to localize some of its production at factories located in its foreign market areas. (It makes little sense from either an economic or a freshness standpoint to be shipping fruits and vegetables and/or finished food products halfway around the world rather than producing them locally.) One wouldn't expect, for example, every can and bottle of Coca-Cola sold anywhere in the world — whether it be Australia, China, or Portugal — to be produced by U.S. bottlers.)

[A_Possum]

6. From the horse's mouth...

Statement from Heinze Co., send back to whoever sent you this baloney.

[alcuno]

7. People are ignorant. They don't understand that outsourcing is

taking a job that produces something consumed in the US, sending the job overseas, and importing the product/service.

Besides, food is ALWAYS manufactured in or near the country where it is consumed. Heinz is a bottling company (look at your ketchup bottle) and is run by a great deal of automation. It's not like a car or a shoe that requires human assembly.

[TexasSissy]

8. Thank you all so much! DUers are the MOST informed people on Earth!

Well, maybe I've exaggerated a bit. But you ARE more informed than any Repub I've ever spoken with. Great place to get the real down and dirty info.:toast:

[Spiffarino]

13. I guarantee you the person who started this knew it was a lie

There are hundreds of lying email going around, nearly all of them lies aimed at discrediting Democrats. The ONLY one I've seen that isn't aimed at Dems is the fake Bush fetus/feces email, and that's more silly than slanderous.

Republicans have nothing to run on this year, so they have to lie, cheat and steal to get elected. Whatever you do, make sure the truth gets to them. Most people who propagate this stuff don't know it's phony. Set them straight by sending them links to snopes.com and debunk this nonsense. If they are honest, eventually they will become chastened. If they don't, at least they won't send any more crap to you.

[TexasSissy]

16. So true. It does seem that Repubs are just vicious liars lately....

I don't get it. Or maybe I do, it's just that it's sad to realize that they are so committed to selling out for a tax cut that they'd do just about anything to get it.

[EST]

17. You tell the truth so beautifully.

These stupid
chain letter take/ three sips of koolaid/ make ten copies of this/pass it on to ten of your idiot friends/ pray for george bush/ god loves you organized dimwit online clubs make me want to puke and bite somebody all at once. My wife gets that ignorant shit all the time at the bank where she works. I can't get her to confront those creeps and shut it off (they are all lutherans) but she is going to vote straight democrat this election! Thanks for letting me butt in.

[Spiffarino]

19. Oh by all means, butt in!

I don't mind getting the occasional anti-Democrat email as long as it's telling the truth. Well OK, I do mind a little. :P

The point is, if you are going to persuade, it's much more effective - not to mention honest - to use the truth as your ammunition. Lying degrades democracy as much as it degrades the liar.

[chookie]

9. They have been international for decades

They have had factories in places like India, where they produce -- SURPRISE!! -- chutneys, hot pickles, curry sauces, for the Indian market.

They do not "OUTSOURCE". That's pure bullshit.

The truth of the matter is that Heinz "outsourcing" is limited to the move from Pittsburgh to the southern United States, because labor costs, etc are cheaper. How more Republican can you get than that?

Hammering Kerry through Teresa is simply bizarre.

[NMDemDist2]

11. check Snopes.com -- this email is old and debunked

be sure you hit "reply to all"

:evilgrin:

[JohnnyRingo]

15. Republicans pretend they believe that when Jack Heinz died...

... the reins to the family buisness went to his immigrant widow.
Mr Heinz children were, however, taken care of.

These same people also believe that when Theresa married JK there was no reason for a pre-nup for the purpose of protecting the inheritance of Jack Heinz's children.

Odd, because these are conservative traditions when a large inheritance involved.

[SoCalDem]

18. If your last name was Ford, would you "control" the auto co??

she married into "old money".. Heinz is mostly foundations and investments these days.. The old family money is all tucked away.. Is she wealthy because of the death of her 1st husband, you bet.. Would she give it back to have had that not happen..of course..

I have a friend who married a duPont.. The FAMILY is extremely well off, but they live like ordinary people..