Hershey Trust Company Explained

Hershey Trust Company
Type:Private
Industry:Trust administration, Investment, Real Estate
Founded:
in Hershey, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Founders:Milton S. Hershey
Harry Lebkicher
John E. Snyder
Key People:Maria T. Kraus (board chair)[1]
Hq Location City:Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hq Location Country:U.S.

The Hershey Trust Company is an American corporation incorporated on April 28, 1905, by Milton S. Hershey, Harry Lebkicher and John E. Snyder. The Hershey Trust Company serves as the Trustee of the Milton Hershey School Trust, The M.S. Hershey Foundation and the Hershey Cemetery Perpetual Care Maintenance Trust and focuses its business solely on these trusts, to advance the legacy of Milton and Catherine Hershey in perpetuity through excellence in asset management and trust administration. The Hershey Trust Company is a Pennsylvania-chartered trust company regulated by the PA Department of Banking and Securities.

The company is the controlling shareholder of The Hershey Company and sole private owner of Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. The Milton Hershey School Trust provides the funding for the 2,000+ student Milton Hershey School.

The trust company manages the $21.0 billion USD (2021) endowment of the Milton Hershey School Trust. The income from these assets are used to fund the Milton Hershey School and its subsidiaries. The school provides education for lower-income children.[2] [3] [4]

History

On April 28, 1905, the Pennsylvania Department of State issued a charter creating the Hershey Trust Company.[5] In 1909, when Hershey founded the Milton Hershey School, Hershey appointed the Trust as administrator of the school trust.

2011 investigation of the Hershey Trust Company

In February 2011, Robert Reese (grandson of H. B. Reese the inventor of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups),[6] a former board member and president of the Trust,[7] filed a lawsuit against the Hershey Trust Company alleging that board members had been improperly using the Trust's money.[8] One particular issue was the purchase of the Wren Dale Golf Course, in which the Hershey Trust overpaid for the property, to the benefit of board members who were both owners of the Wren Dale Golf Course and on the Hershey Trust board.[9] [10] Reese withdrew the lawsuit in April 2011, due to deteriorating health. Reese suggested the Pennsylvania Attorney General had enough cause to investigate the Hershey Trust.[11]

In 2013, Kathleen Kane,[12] the Pennsylvania Attorney General, announced the conclusion of a two-year investigation into the operations of the Hershey Trust Company, in which the Office of Attorney General and the Hershey Trust Company agreed that there was a finding of no wrongdoing, but reforms were required of the trust company.[13] [14]

2016 developments

In May 2016, the state attorney general asked the company to remove three members from the ten-person board. The attorney general said that the three had allowed "apparent violations" of the 2013 agreement. At about the same time, in an unrelated investigation, John Estey, former chief of staff to Governor Ed Rendell and a high-ranking executive of the company, was charged with wire fraud, having pocketed $13,000 that an FBI sting operation had given to him in an investigation into illegal lobbying of legislators.[15] [16]

Entities of the Milton Hershey School Trust

Beneficiary of the Milton Hershey School Trust

Entities of the Milton S. Hershey Foundation

Notes

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Board of Directors Hershey Trust Company . Hershey Trust Company . May 18, 2024.
  2. Web site: Hershey Community Partnerships Family History. Milton Hershey School. Staff Writers. July 8, 2023. July 8, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230701024721/https://www.mhskids.org/about/school-leadership/hershey-community-partnerships/. July 1, 2023.
  3. Web site: America’s richest school serves low-income kids. But much of its Hershey-funded fortune isn’t being spent.. Spotlight PA. Bob Fernandez. May 28, 2021. July 8, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230706142242/https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2021/05/pa-milton-hershey-school-spending-students-surplus/. July 6, 2023.
  4. Web site: IRS Form 990 Milton Hershey School and School Trust . Foundation Center . July 31, 2016 . April 18, 2018.
  5. News: Trust Co. At The Chocolate Plant . . April 28, 1905 . 1 .
  6. News: The Reese's Revolution . The Sun . February 17, 2011 . April 18, 2018.
  7. News: Board Vs. Board . The Sun . February 10, 2011 . April 18, 2018.
  8. News: Hershey Charity Scandal: Robert Reese, Ex-Hershey Official, Claims Wrongdoing . . February 11, 2011 . . A former official involved with the multibillion-dollar charitable trust that controls the Hershey candy company is claiming in a court filing that board members used the trust's considerable assets to pad their bank accounts and treat themselves to luxury hotel stays, limousine rides and free golf. .
  9. News: Hershey school's purchase of golf course helped investors . Fernandez . Bob . . October 3, 2010 . November 13, 2015 .
  10. News: Ousted Hershey Trust president tells court of serious financial irregularities . Fernandez . Bob . . February 11, 2011 . November 13, 2015 . Reese, a scion of the peanut-butter cup fortune and a former senior executive of the Hershey Co., seeks to have Hershey trustees reimburse the charity $22 million for purchasing the Wren Dale course at an inflated price and improperly commingling funds in Hershey Trust that led to remedial action after the trust company alerted the Securities and Exchange Commission. .
  11. News: Court action against Hershey is pulled . Fernandez . Bob . . April 5, 2011 . November 13, 2015 . Just as the legal battle was heating up, a former insider at the multibillion-dollar Hershey charity has withdrawn his court action that claimed the misuse of millions of dollars meant for educating poor children. Robert Reese, a former Hershey trustee and president of the Hershey Trust Co., took the action Monday, saying deteriorating eyesight made it impossible for him to pursue the case. He added that he believed the Attorney General's Office would investigate his claims, which were filed Feb. 8 in Dauphin County Orphans Court. .
  12. News: Ex-Hershey Trust official Robert Reese gives $100K to AG candidate Kathleen Kane . Penn Live . October 29, 2012 . April 18, 2018.
  13. News: Pennsylvania's attorney general: No penalties, but reforms for Hershey Trust . Malawskey . Nick . . May 8, 2013 . October 27, 2015 .
  14. Web site: Hershey Trust Company Reaches Agreement with Attorney General on Reforms to Better Serve the Milton Hershey School Mission . . May 8, 2013 . November 13, 2015 .
  15. News: Fernandez. Bob. AG wants to remove 3 leaders of Hershey Trust. May 3, 2016. . May 3, 2016.
  16. News: Few details available in Estey bombshell. May 3, 2016. . May 1, 2016.

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