The American Companies That Aren't Actually American Anymore

Several American companies have expanded into countries all around the world over the years, such as Apple and Telsa. These companies were founded in America but have become some of the world's largest companies, but sadly some of these companies don't always stay in American ownership. There are now several American companies that are not actually American anymore, such as Burger King and Snapchat, that are now owned by investors overseas. 

Some of these American companies wouldn't be around if it weren't for foreign investors purchasing these companies. Hence, it isn't always bad for an American company to be bought out by foreigners. So if you are interested in finding out what American companies aren't actually American anymore, check out this article!

Budweiser, which is America's favorite beer, is not owned by Americans anymore but was purchased back in 2008 by AB InBev. Anheuser-Busch agreed to be bought from AB InBev for around $52 billion, making it the world's largest brewer. Budweiser was first introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. and was inspired by a German pale lager beer. 

Ben & Jerry's was founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in 1978 as they opened their first ice cream parlor together. Since then, Ben & Jerry's has become one of the most popular ice cream brands in America and has been mentioned several times in pop culture and on different television shows. 

Burger King has been around since 1954 and was founded by James McLamore and David Egerton. The first fast-food restaurant was opened in Miami, Florida, and became an instant hit among the locals. Once Burger King's name was out there, it started spreading around the nation and later on, around the world. 

Sunglass Hut was founded by Sanford Ziff, who opened the first store in Miami, Florida, in 1971. Ziff was an optometrist that wanted to make fashionable prescription glasses and sunglasses that were not seen at the time. In 1991, Ziff decided to sell the company to Luxottica Group for a staggering $653 million. 

Trader Joe's is one of California's most popular grocery stores and has been around since 1967. Joe Coulombe, the founder of Trader Joe's, wanted to create a supermarket that specialized in stocking rare and healthier foods. Trader Joe's became a success as customers saw the quality of their products and trusted the company more than other supermarkets.  

American Apparel was founded in 1989 and became one of the most trending clothing stores in America as the name was an advertisement of itself. American Apparel was known for being made in the United States, but after the company had a rough year in 2015, it was bought out by a Canadian company, Gildan Activewear, in 2017 for $88 million. 

7-Eleven was founded by Jefferson Green, an ordinary shop owner who started expanding his business in Dallas, Texas, in 1927. Green began to offer products that other general goods stores didn't, such as milk, eggs, and bread. Green decided to change the business's name from Southland Ice to 7-Eleven, which was the store's operating hours. 

In 1922, the famous American ice cream brand Popsicle was invented by 11-year-old Francis Epperson by accident as he forgot one of his drinks outside that had a stick in it. The following day Epperson checked the cup and observed that it was frozen, which led to the first Popsicle being invented. 

Hellmann's mayonnaise is a food condiment that is in almost every American's pantry and has been ever since it was invented by Richard-Hellmann, who came up with the recipe in 1905. Hellmann was German-born and decided to mix a French and a German-tasting mayonnaise together that has become the most popular in America.

Dirt Devil is an American company that has been around since 1905 and has kept households clean for years. Philip Geier founded the company and opened the first store in Cleveland, Ohio. Dirt Devil was known for its cyclone system that separated it from other vacuum cleaners, and because of that, it sold millions of units over the years. 

Smithfield has been around since 1936 and has been supplying Americans with different pork-based products for several years. The company was founded by Joseph W. Luter who wanted to create a business that supplied people with high-quality pork. Over the years Smithfield became one of the biggest companies in the farming industry as they now have over 500 farms. 

The Ironman competition was first created in 1978 and was a part of the Hawaiian Triathlon Corporation up until 1990 when it was purchased by Dr. James P. Gills for $3 million. It was again sold to Providence Equity Securities for $85 million in 2008. The company was then sold again to a Chinese company by the name of Dalian Wanda Group for a whopping $650 million in 2015. 

Forbes was first founded in 1917 by the Forbes family. Since then, it has become one of the most trusted news sources in America and is known for its ranking of celebrities and influential figures. The American company has been around for over 100 years and is still one of the most popular magazines. 

General Motors has always been known as one of the largest car manufacturers in America, as they have been around since 1908. General Motors was one of the leading automobile manufacturers during the early 1900s but ended up exploding during World War II like many other American companies. 

General Electric is another American company that has found itself in the hands of a Chinese company. General Electric was founded in 1892 and has become one of the biggest manufacturers in America. General Electric dipped its hands in different sectors such as aviation, household items, and even healthcare. 

When it comes to American ice cream companies, Unilever is always there to buy them out. Good Humor was founded during the 1920s in Youngstown, Ohio, and became popular because of the Good Humor bar, which was a chocolate-coated ice cream bar. The ice cream company became even more popular when its ice cream trucks started popping up around America. 

The first Holiday Inn was first built in 1952 and was just like any other motel at the time. It was located between Memphis and Nashville and was founded by Kemmons Wilson, who got the idea after traveling with his family. Wilson ended up partnering with Wallace Johnson to create more locations across the country. 

Purina was founded in 1894 by William H. Danforth, who wanted to create healthy pet food. The American company became very popular over the years and survived several economic crises. Purina ended up striking a deal with Swiss-based company Nestle in 2001 as they were going through some financial troubles. 

Firestone was founded by Harvey Firestone in 1900 and became one of the top leading tire and rubber companies in America. Harvey had a close friendship with Henry Ford and struck a deal with him to supply Ford with tires and rubber. This made Firestone one of the biggest automotive companies in America, and it still has a good reputation to this day. 

Gerber was first introduced to the world in 1927 by Daniel Frank Gerber. Gerber's wife made baby food for their newborn daughter, which led him to start his own line of baby food that he could sell to the public. Gerber created five different baby foods to sell and it was an instant hit among the public. 

Citgo was founded by Henry Latham Doherty in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in 1910. Citgo ended up becoming one of the top oil distributors in America and was even known for refining fuel as well. Everything was going well for Citgo until the 1980s came around. 

The Waldorf Astoria Hotel was first opened in 1931 and is located in New York City. Everything about this hotel is luxurious, and you have to spend a good amount of money to stay here for a couple of nights. The hotel was originally managed by Hilton Worldwide but was sold to a Chinese-owned company by the name of Anbang Insurance Group of China for $1.95 billion. 

Motorola was founded in 1928 and has been supplying Americans with electronics for years. Motorola is most known for its mobile phones, but before that technology was invented, it first focused on producing radios. Google ended up buying the company in 2012 for $12.5 billion as they wanted to start making their own smartphones. 

When IBM was founded back in 1911, they were focusing on making some of the latest machines at the time since computers were not invented until some time after. IBM ended up making its first computer in 1981 and changed the way we interact with technology. 

Legendary Entertainment was founded in 2000 by Thomas Tull, who wanted to create his own film production company. The company worked closely with other entertainment companies, such as Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures. The company has produced movies such as Batman Begins, Inception, and Man of Steel. 

Hoover has been making appliances for Americans since 1908 and is one of the most trusted brands when it comes to cleaning your home. Hoover was founded by Henry Hoover, who wanted to make quality products that would last. The company remained in American hands for quite a while before it was sold to Techtronic in 2006. 

Frigidaire was first named the Guardian Frigerator Company when it was founded by Nathaniel Wales and Alfred Mellowes in 1918. The two business owners didn't have the money to manufacture refrigerators on a large scale and ended up getting help from William Durant, who was part of General Motors. 

Strategic Hotels & Resorts was founded in 1997 by Laurence Geller, who is known for being a real estate investor and philanthropist. The hotel company owns 18 luxurious hotels that are located in the United States and Germany. Bill Gates was once a company shareholder until it was sold off in 2016 to Anbang Insurance Group. 

Alka-Seltzer was first invented in 1931 and still works just as well as it did back in the day. Alka-Seltzer was first sold by Dr. Miles Medicine Company and became an essential pain reliever that almost every American used. Alka-Seltzer stayed under American ownership for quite some time until Bayer eventually bought it in 1978. 

The Chrysler Building was constructed in 1930 and has been an iconic building in New York City. The Chrysler Building is known for its Art Deco-styled architecture and has been featured in several movies over the years. Americans have always owned the amazing skyscraper until the Abu Dhabi Investment Council decided to purchase a majority of the ownership in 2008 for $800 million. 

Spotify was first founded in 2006 and has become the top platform for streaming music. Spotify wasn't that popular when it first began, as music streaming services were not being used on a large scale. It wasn't until 2010 that Spotify started seeing an increase in users. Now, the company is worth millions and has become one of the leading platforms for streaming music. 

Snapchat was founded in 2011 by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, who wanted to create a new streaming app that was free to use. Snapchat ended up becoming one of the most popular apps to download on your phone and was valued at about $20 billion at one point in time. 

Ingram Micro was founded in 1979 and was a small technology distributor before it became a multimillion-dollar company. The company is based in Irvine, California but was recently sold to a Chinese company by the name of Tianjin Tianhai Investment in 2016. Tianjin Tianhai Investment acquired Ingram Micro for a whopping $6 billion as they saw the potential of the company and how much money it would make them in the long run. 

Everybody knows about the three major record label companies: Sony Music, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group. Universal Music Group was founded in 1934 and has been one of the world's top record companies, producing some of the best music. You may think of the company as American-owned, but this hasn't been the case for years. 

WeWork was founded in 2008 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, who wanted to create a company that provided coworking spaces. The company was quite successful from the beginning, as WeWork helped several start-up tech companies. They are now one of the top leaders in the industry as they have helped several companies all over America. 

Segway Inc. was founded in 1999 by Dean Kamen, who invented this two-wheeled personal transport. The Segway was launched in 2001 and wasn't exactly popular at first, but after a couple of years, it was hard not to see one of these things roaming around your city. Things were going great for Segway Inc. for a while, as everyone wanted to purchase one. 

John Hancock Financial Opportunities Fund has been around since 1862 and has been helping Americans with life insurance for over 100 years. John Hancock also specialized in offering other products as well but mainly focused on life insurance. The company was proud to be American-owned until Canadian company Manulife Financial bought it out. 

Riot Games was founded in 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill, who created the video game studio in Santa Monica, California. The gaming company is best known for being the creator of League of Legends, which has become the most popular computer game in the world. The two founders never thought that their company would get so big.

Oakley Inc. was founded in 1975 by James Jannard, who started making sunglasses in his garage. People liked Jannard's sunglasses so much that he decided to get serious about creating a company. In 1980, Jannard released the O-Frame, which ended up being a hit and was the first of many that would make him a multimillionaire. 

California Grapes International Inc. was founded in 1992 and was the primary disruptor of wines and other grape products in California. Sadly, California Grapes International Inc. disappeared some time ago as China Food Services Corp. bought the company for an undisclosed amount. A lot of Californians were disappointed to find out that one of their biggest distributors is now owned by the Chinese. 

OmniVision Technologies Inc. was founded in 1995 and has provided digital imaging products for different devices that use cameras, such as medical imaging systems. The California-based company was in the hands of Americans for quite a while until it was eventually sold to Shanghai-based company Will Semiconductor Co. Ltd for a whopping $2.1 billion. 

Brookstone was founded in 1965 by Pierre de Beaumont, who opened the first store in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The company specialized in mail-ordering tools and parts that were needed around the house. It ended up becoming a hit for a while but ended up dying off when the internet came around. In 2014, Brookstone wasn't doing so well financially, so it ended up being bought out by Chinese company Sailing Capital and Sanpower. 

Baby Trend Inc. was founded in 1988 and has been supplying Americans with infant and toddler products since. The company was one of the leaders in the industry and was based out of Ontario, California. Baby Trend Inc. was going through some financial trouble in 2016, which led to the Alpha Group purchasing the company. 

Lucky Strike cigarettes were first introduced to the American public in 1871 and were one of the most popular cigarettes at the time. Americans owned Lucky Strike for quite some time before it was bought by the British-owned company British American Tobacco during the 1970s. 

Tommy Hilfiger started his fashion career during the 1960s, but it wasn't until the 1980s that he decided to create his own company, which sold some of the most fashionable clothes that all the young kids wanted. Tommy Hilfiger is now worth billions of dollars and has become an iconic clothing line worldwide. 

Etch A Sketch was invented by Andre Cassagnes in 1955 and it wasn't until 1960 that it was sold by Ohio Arts and became one of the most popular toys in America. This simple toy allowed you to draw a picture mechanically with two knobs. Over the years, people have created masterpieces on an Etch A Sketch, which are still popular today. 

Samsonite is an American luggage company that was founded in 1910. Since then, it has been supplying Americans with luggage and has quite a reputation for having good quality products. The company was doing well for many years until it eventually filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. CVC Capital Partners, a Belgian-based company, purchased Samsonite for $1.7 billion in 2007. 

AMC Theaters was founded in 1920 by Maurice, Edward, and Barney Dubinsky, who converted a local theater. The Dubinskys found that their movie theater became super popular and decided to open up more in Kansas City. By the 1980s, AMC Theaters were everywhere and were a significant competitor to other movie theater franchises. 

Morgan Stanley was founded in 1935 and has been helping Americans with investment management for years. Morgan Stanley is a company that Americans have been trusting for over 80 years. The company was American owned for quite a while until it was eventually bought out by Mitsubishi UFG.