Who Owns What? 15 Companies That Own Many Others

You might enjoy shopping for clothes at Gap stores in your local mall, but did you know that Banana Republic, Old Navy, Intermix, Hill City, and Athleta also belong to Gap? Such information can be interesting for customers -- and also for investors. With Gap, for example, in fiscal 2021, Gap stores globally generated only about 24% of sales, while Athleta generated 9%, Banana Republic generated 12%, and Old Navy generated the lion's share -- 54%. Lots of companies own other companies -- Yum! Brands, for instance, owns KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut.

Here's a look at a bunch of other companies that own multiple businesses.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

The company formerly known as Square is now Block (NYSE: SQ). With a market value recently near $70 billion, Block is a financial services company specializing in digital payments. It owns Square, of course, along with Cash App, Spiral (formerly known as Square Crypto), Tidal (a global platform for musicians and their fans), and TBD, which is "building an open developer platform to make it easier to access Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies without having to go through an institution." In other words, it's operating in multiple corners of the fintech world.

Hotel chains have consolidated over the years, with many big hospitality names owning other big hospitality names. Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR), for example, recently boasted a total of 1.48 million rooms in about 8,000 properties in 139 countries and territories. Those properties are branded with names such as The Ritz-Carlton, W Hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Renaissance, Springhill Suites, Residence Inn, Fairfield, Aloft, Moxy, and Element by Westin -- among many others.

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), tracing its roots back nearly 100 years to 1923, has grown from a specialist in animated film to a massive entertainment juggernaut. Among many other businesses, it encompasses Disney theme parks, Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Lucasfilm, ABC Entertainment, ABC News, FX Networks, National Geographic, ESPN, the Disney+ streaming service, and two-thirds of Hulu.

ALSO READ: 3 Reasons to Buy Walt Disney Stock and 1 Reason to Hesitate

It's easy to assume that PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) is all about beverages, but that's actually only about half of its business. It's also a massive salty-snack machine, with its Frito-Lay division encompassing brands such as Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Tostitos, Ruffles, Smartfood, Fritos, SunChips, Santitas, Rold Gold, and more. In 2021, beverages generated just 45% of PepsiCo's revenue, with Frito-Lay North America alone generating 25%.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA) is a company you may know by its previous name -- ViacomCBS. It recently rebranded itself as Paramount Global, and it encompasses businesses such as CBS, Showtime, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount+, Pluto TV, and Simon & Schuster.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is another rebranded company, formerly known as just Google. But Google is only part of its business -- albeit a major one, with Google advertising generating the lion's share of its revenue -- fully 81% in its fourth quarter of 2021. Alphabet is also home to the very widely used Android mobile operating system, along with YouTube and Google Cloud. It also owns the Google Play app store, smart thermostat maker Nest, Waze, and Fitbit, among other things.

ALSO READ: Should You Buy Alphabet Before the Stock Split?

Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) may be known to you as a cable and internet service provider that you love or hate, but it's much more than that. Its businesses and brands include Xfinity, Comcast Business, Sky, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Universal Studio Group, Sky Studios, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, multiple cable networks, Peacock, NBCUniversal News Group, NBC Sports, Sky News, Sky Sports, and Universal Parks and Resorts.

Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a fairly new entity, reflecting the merger this month of Discovery with WarnerMedia. Together, the new company is a content giant, encompassing TV, film, and streaming names such as Discovery Channel, Discovery+, CNN, DC, Eurosport, HBO, HBO Max, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Cartoon Network, and Turner Classic Movies.

Yup, it's another rebranding. The company you long know as Facebook is now Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: FB), reflecting the fact that it encompasses more than the massive social network. Indeed, it's also home to Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp -- and other businesses, too, such as augmented reality and virtual reality technologies, including the Oculus platform.

ALSO READ: Where Will Meta Platforms Be in 3 Years?

Like Block, PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL) is another -- even bigger -- fintech conglomerate, with a recent market value near $120 billion. You know its flagship service, PayPal, which has more than 425 million active consumer and merchant accounts worldwide. You may not realize, though, that another popular payment processor, Venmo, also belongs to the company. So does Honey, the service that helps shoppers secure discounts.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

It's not just media companies and financial behemoths that own multiple businesses. International food giant Nestlé (OTC: NSRGY), based in Switzerland, boasts more than 2,000 brands in some 186 countries. These include Gerber, Perrier, Cheerios, KitKat, Nescafé, Hot Pockets, Lean Cuisine, Carnation, Häagen-Dazs, Boost, and Purina.

OK, you probably know that Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) owns Whole Foods Market, which it bought in 2017, but you might not realize that its tentacles reach far beyond its online marketplace and good-for-you provisions. It also owns the major online footwear store Zappos, along with the Goodreads social network for readers, the Audible audiobook empire, the IMDb entertainment information database, and the video game service Twitch -- among other things.

ALSO READ: Amazon Stock: Headed to $5,000?

Few people have heard of Restaurant Brands International (NYSE: QSR), but they certainly know some, if not all, of its properties -- which include Burger King, Popeyes, Firehouse Subs, and Tim Hortons -- the coffee-and-doughnut purveyor found all over Canada. Together, the chains feature more than 28,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries and generate more than $35 billion in systemwide annual sales.

Then there's Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which features not just the dominant Windows computer operating system and the dominant productivity software suite of Microsoft 365, but also the Azure cloud-computing platform, Surface devices, Xbox gaming systems -- and Skype and LinkedIn, too. It's also hoping to beef up its gaming presence via its potential upcoming purchase of Activision Blizzard.

ALSO READ: Got $5,000? 2 Tech Stocks to Buy and Hold for the Long Term

Quick -- what do Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, and Eddie V's all have in common? Well, they all belong to Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI). Darden recently sported a market value near $16 billion, and it rakes in more than $9 billion annually.

5 Stocks Under $49
Presented by Motley Fool Stock Advisor
We hear it over and over from investors, “I wish I had bought Amazon or Netflix when they were first recommended by The Motley Fool. I’d be sitting on a gold mine!" It's true, but we think these 5 other stocks are screaming buys. And you can buy them now for less than $49 a share! Click here to learn how you can grab a copy of “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for FREE for a limited time only.

If you're interested in investing in any particular company, do a little digging to see if it's a stand-alone company or if it's owned by another. See what other companies it might own, too. Knowing what business owns what other business can offer some insights for you, too, as an investor and even a consumer.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Selena Maranjian owns Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, Block, Inc., Marriott International, Meta Platforms, Inc., Microsoft, PayPal Holdings, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Activision Blizzard, Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, Bitcoin, Block, Inc., Meta Platforms, Inc., Microsoft, PayPal Holdings, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends Alphabet (C shares), Comcast, Discovery (C shares), Marriott International, Nestle, and Restaurant Brands International Inc. and recommends the following options: long January 2023 $115 calls on Marriott International, long January 2024 $145 calls on Walt Disney, and short January 2024 $155 calls on Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.