Every time an American family picks up a box of Kellogg’s cereal at the grocery store, it is contributing to the wealthy radical leftwing foundation that agitates for open borders, supports George Soros’s Open Society Insitute, and pushes a host of leftwing causes.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is the largest shareholder of the Kellogg Company. According to its 2016 tax filing, the Kellogg Foundation’s trust owns approximately $5.2 billion of stock in the company, about 20 percent of the company’s equity. The other large holders are mostly passive investors such as mutual funds and their ownership is a fraction of the foundation’s. That means that the foundation effectively controls the famous cereal company.
Kellogg Company is the foundation’s largest holding. The foundation and its trust have a total of $9.1 billion of assets. All of its other diversified stock investments total just $3.3 million. As a result, the foundation itself is heavily dependent on the profits of Kellogg for income. When Kellogg makes money, the foundation has more to spend on its leftwing causes.
The foundation’s president and chief executive officer, La June Montgomery, is on the board of directors of Kellogg Company. Montgomery has worked at the foundation for 30 years, putting her at the center of the foundation’s sharp move leftward. According to Kellogg Company’s website, “she has been involved in all aspects of its operations.” Montogmery is also a trustee of the foundation.
Another foundation trustee, Cynthia Milligan, is on the board of Kellogg Company. She is the chair of the board’s Social Responsibility & Public Policy committee, likely the group that made the determination that the company should no longer advertise on Breitbart News. Montgomery is also on the social responsibility committee.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is the seventh largest philanthropy in the United States, distributing hundreds of millions of dollars in grants. It was founded by cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg after his grandson ran into difficulty getting adequate healthcare in small town Michigan despite the family’s wealth. “Use the money as you please so long as it promotes the health, happiness and well-being of children,” Kellogg told the foundation’s trustees.
In recent years, however, the foundation has been captured by left-wing activists. It has donated billions to left-wing causes and liberal think tanks, according to a report by the Capital Research Center. Last year, the Kellogg Company called for a blacklist of Breitbart, saying that the news organization did not reflect its values. This prompted a #dumpkellogg’s boycott in response that AdWeek described as inflicting huge damage to the company’s reputation.
Last week, after a year of stagnant sales and massive layoffs, the company replaced its CEO with an outsider. The two Kellogg Foundation members, however, remain on its board.