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When you think of 7-Eleven, the Chrysler Building, and Budweiser, what country comes to mind? If you said Japan, Abu Dhabi, and Belgium, then no need to read on. But if such news comes as a shock, keep reading to learn about ten un-American Icons this country holds dear.
1. Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
You’ve likely seen the Anheuser-Busch commercials that were shown during the Olympics. You know, the ones that are oozing with everything American – football, tailgating, the Statue of Liberty, riding motorcycles, playing in a garage band, and, of course, a fat slice of apple pie. In case you didn’t get the hint, they’re reminding you that their All American Ale is still All American. But it’s not American at all! Earlier this year, Anheuser Busch Inc was bought by InBev, the Belgian brewer. The deal, soon to close, will make the new combined company “Anheuser Busch InBev” the largest beer company in the world.
2. The Chrysler Building
In July, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council’s sovereign wealth fund bought a 90% stake in the Chrysler building for an estimated $800 million. The building management will remain under Tishman Speyer Properties, who owns the remaining 10%. Prior to Abu Dhabi’s purchase, the majority (75%) of the building was owned by TMW, a German real estate fund.
3. The Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel, near Central Park, is co-owned by Prince bin Alwaleed bin Talal and Israeli billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva’s El-Ad Group. The hotel’s ownership passed through the hands of the Hiltons and the Trumps until Trump sold to the partnership for $325 million in 1995.
4. Essex House in Manhattan
This landmark hotel was bought by the Dubai Investment Group in 2005 and is under management by the Dubai based hospitality group, Jumeriah. Jumeriah operates the only 7-star hotel in the world—the Burj Al Arab in the UAE.
5. 7-Eleven
Yes, 7-Eleven is a subsidiary of the Japanese company Seven & I Holdings. The company faced financial difficulties in the 80s, and was rescued by one of the franchisees in Japan. In the 90s, Seven & I bid for and received a controlling share of the company.
6. The Chicago Skyway
In 2005, the city of Chicago sold a 99-year lease on the eight-mile Chicago Skyway for $1.83 billion to the Skyway Concession Company, which is jointly owned by the Macquarie Infrastructure Group of Sydney, Australia, and the Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte of Madrid, Spain. Chicago used the money to pay off debt and fund road projects.
7. Indiana Toll Road
“The Crossroads of America” is owned by the crossroads of Spain and Australia. Like the Chicago Skyway, the Indiana Toll Road is owned by Macquarie Infrastructure Group.
8. Merrill Lynch
The iconic bull down in Battery Park may no longer represent United States’ economic fortitude. In January, ML raised $6.6 billion from the sale of its preferred stock to three foreign investors: Korean Investment Corporation, Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group Inc, and the Kuwaiti Investment Authority.
9. Trader Joe’s
Trader Joe, a manager of Rexall drugs, bought the Rexall store chain, changed the name and began offering exotic, environmental, and healthy food. In 1979 ALDI, a German company, bought out the company.
10. Genentech
The largest biotech firm in America is actually owned by the Swiss. In fact, they just made an unsolicited offer to acquire the 44% of the firm that it does not already own for about $44 billion.
Be sure to check out more of what Diana learned today here.
The item about Trader Joe’s is dead wrong. I’d be curious where they got the info for that claim.
If you check the Trader Joe’s website (www.traderjoes.com), they say nothing about being part of ALDI’s, and even talk about being privately owned. ALDI’s webiste (www.aldi.com) doesn’t say anything about owning Trader Joe’s. In fact, ALDI’s has no stores in CA, which is Trader Joe’s home state. And Rexall’s website (www.rexall.com) shows they’re still around as well, tho now part of WalMart stores.
posted by Peter on 8-27-2008 at 6:34 pm
The item about Trader Joe’s is dead wrong. Trader Joe’s website (www.traderjoes.com) says that they are privately owned. ALDI’s website (www.aldi.com) says nothing about owning Trader Joe’s, and their store locater doesn’t even show anything in California which is TJ’s home state. And Rexall (www.rexall.com) is still around, tho they appear to now only have floor/shelf space in WalMart stores.
I wonder what info Diana has that led to her conclusion regarding Trader Joe’s?
-Pete
posted by Peter on 8-27-2008 at 6:40 pm
I don’t know if the whole claim about Trader Joe’s is correct, but it’s not “dead wrong.” Trader Joe’s is owned by a trust set up by Aldi co-founder Theo Albrecht. From a BusinessWeek article:
“Aldi now shows signs of stepping up the pace of its expansion on Wal-Mart’s turf. Aldi opened its first U.S. store in Iowa in 1976 and has sales of $4.8 billion in North America, according to M+M. And Trader Joe’s Co., a specialty grocer owned by a family trust that Aldi co-founder Theo Albrecht created for his sons, has become the hottest thing in U.S. retailing by extending the Aldi concept to upscale products like wine and cashew butter.”
posted by Todd on 8-27-2008 at 7:01 pm
Many, many of us in Indiana are unhappy with Governor Daniels selling out the toll road!
posted by Val on 8-27-2008 at 7:35 pm
Others of us in Indiana are confident that the money raised by selling the toll road will not lead the owners in Spain or Australia to take it to either country leaving the northern strip of the state without a throughway.
posted by Jim on 8-27-2008 at 8:23 pm
Not to be nitpicky or anything, but Abu Dhabi isn’t a country - it’s the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
posted by Zach on 8-27-2008 at 11:55 pm
It won’t be long before all of America is owned by foreign entities. This “trend” has been institutionalized by TPTB in D.C. They don’t care so long as they get to profit from it.
posted by James on 8-28-2008 at 12:13 am
Annnd can of worms…officially open.
posted by Nikki on 8-28-2008 at 12:58 am
I don’t have the research to back me up on this, but I do know that when I lived in St. Louis, people would tell me how Trader Joe’s and Aldi were owned by the same company, at least in part.
BTW, Aldi is awesome! I miss that store. :-(
posted by nutmeag on 8-28-2008 at 7:32 am
As an employee of Trader Joe’s, I feel the need to clear up a few things . . . First off, there is no connection between Rexall Drugs and Trader Joe’s. Surprisingly enough, it had started out as a chain of small grocery stores in the L.A. area. After needing to rethink their business model, the grocery stores closed and reopened as Trader Joe’s. Second, the connection to Aldi is only PARTLY true. While Trader Joe’s is not owned by the Aldi company, the german businessmen that run Aldi also own Trader Joe’s. The overseas owners have provided the capital and soverignity for Trader Joe’s corporate in California. And while Aldi and Trader Joe’s share the same “Private Label” philosophy and have cross-pollinated their distribution and production techniques - never the twain have met (and hopefully, shall never meet).
Maisons RR (The house railroad!)
posted by Firebrand on 8-28-2008 at 12:20 pm
Not to be nitpicky or anything, but Abu Dhabi isn’t the capital of United Arab Emirates - it’s one of seven city-states which make up the UAE.
posted by Barney Rubble on 8-28-2008 at 8:17 pm
I worked at Trader Joe’s up until last month. They are owned by the same shareholders as ALDI, but it’s still privately owned. There are German shareholders, though. We busted our asses to get things exactly as they wanted them for “the German shareholders’ walkthrough” so the article isn’t dead wrong. A German customer asked me once, saying ALDI was a shitty store, but I stand behind TJ’s anyway. Also: it’s NOT a health food store, we had a pretty hard time explaining that to customers, but all you have to do is look at the immense candy and cookie aisle to know that.
Oh, someone already said most of that more eloquently, oh well. I second it, Firebrand.
posted by almost on 8-29-2008 at 12:36 am
7. Indiana Toll Road
“The Crossroads of America” is owned by the crossroads of Spain and Australia. Like the Chicago Skyway, the Indiana Toll Road is owned by Macquarie Infrastructure Group.
A lot of speculation that the Macquarie Infrastructure Group are a front for a larger yet-revealed Chinese holding company. Anyone disbelieving such should research how China came to own-control the Panama Canal.
posted by Patron_Zero on 9-10-2008 at 8:21 pm