Weight Watchers
OVERALL |
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Owned |
USA |
Rating |
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Wellness services
Weight Watchers was founded in Queens, New York by housewife and mother, Jean Nidetch in 1963. Heinz bought the company for $78 million in 1978, and sold it to private equity firm Artal Luxembourg in 1999 for $735 million. Oprah Winfrey became spokesperson and part-owner in 2015. Weight Watchers rebranded itself WW International in 2018, as its focus moves towards overall health and wellness.
Company Ownership
WW International Inc | USA | website | ||||
Artal Group SA ![]() owns 46% of WW International Inc |
LUX | |||||
Investment firm Owns 46% of Weight Watchers. |
Company Assessment
PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
WW International Inc | ||||
In 2020, twenty CEOs furloughed (temporarily laid off) a majority of their workforces due to COVID-19 while having made more than 1,000 times their median employee's compensation in 2019. Altogether, the total compensation of these twenty CEOs could have supported more than 30,000 jobs at their companies' median employee level of compensation. In 2019 this company's CEO was paid US$7,295,423, while the median employee pay was US$6,214, giving a CEO Pay Ratio of 1,174:1.
Source: AFL-CIO (2020)
In 2022 this company agreed to pay US$1.5 million to resolve claims from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that it illegally gathered the data of underage users of its Kurbo program. The FTC claims the companies illegally collected the data of underage users without first notifying their parents or obtaining their consent.
Source: Top Class Actions (2022) |
WW Good is a non-profit organisation working to make health and wellness accessible to all, regardless of income level. Since establishment is 2018, WW Good has donated over US$2.3 million and 13.4 million serving of fresh produce.
Source: company website (2020)
OpenSecrets.org tracks the influence of money on U.S. politics, and how that money affects policy and citizens' lives. Follow link to see this company's record of political donations, lobbying, outside spending and more.
Source: Open Secrets (2020) |
Company Details
Type | Public company |
Revenue | 1.5 billion USD (2018) |
Employees | 18,000 (2017) |
Contact Details
Address | New York, New York, USA |
Website | corporate.ww.com |
Products / Brands
Weight Watchers
Weight Watchers Weight Loss |