Newell Brands Inc.

What does Newell Brands own?
Newell Brands owns more than 20 major consumer brands including Sharpie (permanent markers), Rubbermaid (storage and organization), Graco (baby products), Coleman (outdoor and camping), Yankee Candle (scented candles), Calphalon (cookware), Crock-Pot (slow cookers), Paper Mate (writing instruments), NUK (baby feeding), and Contigo (insulated drinkware). The company sells products in more than 100 countries across writing, home organization, appliances, baby products, outdoor recreation, and home fragrance categories.

Is Newell Brands publicly traded?
Yes, Newell Brands Inc. is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol NWL. The company has been publicly traded for decades. Shares are owned primarily by institutional investors including index fund managers. The company has no controlling shareholder.

Who founded Newell Brands?
Newell Brands traces its origins to Edgar Newell, who founded the Newell Manufacturing Company in Ogdensburg, New York in 1903. The modern Newell Brands was formed through the 2016 merger of Newell Rubbermaid and Jarden Corporation. Jarden was itself led by Martin Franklin prior to the merger. Christopher Peterson serves as President and CEO as of 2025.

Where is Newell Brands headquartered?
Newell Brands is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The company moved its corporate headquarters to Atlanta, Georgia after the 2016 Jarden merger. Manufacturing and distribution operations span the United States, Mexico, China, Germany, and Australia, among other locations.

How many brands does Newell Brands own?
Newell Brands owns more than 20 major consumer brands. The company previously owned over 50 brands following the 2016 Jarden merger but divested more than 35 brands and businesses between 2018 and 2021 as part of a portfolio rationalization program. Current core brands include Sharpie, Rubbermaid, Graco, Coleman, Yankee Candle, Calphalon, NUK, Contigo, and First Alert, among others.

Who owns Newell Brands?
Newell Brands is a publicly traded company with no controlling shareholder. The largest shareholders are institutional investors including Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street Global Advisors, which hold shares primarily through passive index funds. Individual shareholders and smaller institutional investors hold the remainder. Newell Brands has no parent company and is not owned by a private equity firm.

What is Newell Brands' revenue?
Net sales for FY2024 were approximately $7.7 billion, down from approximately $8.4 billion in FY2023. Revenue has declined from a peak of approximately $9.4 billion in FY2018, the year following the Jarden merger, as the company divested non-core brands and faced headwinds in several categories. The company's Ovation restructuring plan, launched in 2024, is intended to stabilize margins and return the business to organic growth.

Has Newell Brands faced any major controversies?
Newell Brands faced significant activist investor pressure in 2018 from Carl Icahn and Starboard Value, who criticized post-merger integration management and board governance. The company also disclosed material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting related to income tax accounting in 2022, which were subsequently remediated. No single product recall or regulatory action has been identified as material to the company's overall operations in recent annual filings.

Newell Brands' origins date to 1903, when Edgar Newell founded the Newell Manufacturing Company in Ogdensburg, New York. The company's initial product was a brass curtain rod. Sales were modest for decades. The company grew slowly through the mid-20th century, adding metal hardware products for the home.

The modern trajectory of the company began in the 1960s and 1970s under chairman Daniel Ferguson, who pursued an acquisition-based growth strategy focused on niche product categories with stable demand. Ferguson's formula was to buy established brands with durable market positions, cut costs, and improve margins without disrupting what made each brand successful. This approach, sometimes called the "Newell way," allowed the company to acquire and integrate dozens of brands over three decades.

The 1992 acquisition of Sanford Corporation, which owned the Sharpie, Paper Mate, and Expo brands, was transformative. Sharpie was already the dominant permanent marker in the United States, and the Sanford deal established Newell as a major writing instruments company. Parker Pen and Waterman, both premium writing brands, were added in 2000 through the acquisition of Gillette's stationery business.

In 1999, Newell merged with Rubbermaid, one of the most recognized housewares brands in America. Rubbermaid had faced significant operational difficulties in the late 1990s, including cost overruns and quality problems. The merger, valued at approximately $5.8 billion, was intended to apply Newell's operational discipline to Rubbermaid's product lines. Integration proved more difficult than anticipated, and the combined Newell Rubbermaid spent several years stabilizing the Rubbermaid brand.

Through the 2000s, Newell Rubbermaid continued acquiring brands including Calphalon cookware, Irwin tools, Lenox industrial tools, Graco baby products, and Aprica, a Japanese baby products brand. Graco, acquired as part of a broader transaction in 2002, became one of the most valuable assets in the portfolio.

The defining event in Newell Brands' recent history was the 2016 merger with Jarden Corporation, valued at approximately $15 billion in cash and stock. Jarden owned Coleman, Yankee Candle, Crock-Pot, Sunbeam, Oster, FoodSaver, Mr. Coffee, NUK, Baby Jogger, Marmot, and approximately 120 other brands. The transaction more than doubled Newell Rubbermaid's revenue and created the entity renamed Newell Brands.

The Jarden merger proved difficult to manage. The combined company had over 50 major brands, complex supply chains, and redundant corporate functions across multiple geographies. The integration generated cost savings but also significant organizational disruption. Activist investors, including Carl Icahn and Starboard Value, acquired stakes in Newell Brands in 2018 and pushed for faster portfolio rationalization.

In response, Newell Brands announced a major divestiture program in 2018, selling more than 35 brands and businesses between 2018 and 2021. Divestitures included the Jarden consumer solutions segment, the Pure Fishing fishing brands, the Rawlings sporting goods business, the Waddington food service packaging business, and the Mapa Spontex commercial cleaning business in certain markets. The program raised approximately $8 billion in proceeds and reduced the brand count from over 50 to approximately 25.

Revenue declined from a peak of approximately $9.4 billion in 2018 to approximately $7.7 billion in FY2024. Elevated interest rates, soft consumer spending on discretionary goods, and category-specific headwinds in writing instruments and home fragrance weighed on performance. The company's net loss in FY2024 was approximately $564 million, reflecting significant non-cash impairment charges on brand intangible assets.

In 2024, Newell Brands launched its "Ovation" plan, a restructuring program targeting approximately $220 million in annual cost savings through workforce reductions, manufacturing footprint rationalization, and procurement improvements. The company also engaged in a review of its Yankee Candle business, exploring strategic options including a potential sale.

Newell Brands has published a corporate responsibility report outlining its environmental and social commitments. The company's stated sustainability priorities include greenhouse gas emissions reduction, responsible sourcing, and supply chain transparency.

Newell Brands has set a target to reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, relative to a 2021 baseline. The company has committed to using 100% renewable electricity across its manufacturing operations by 2030. These targets have not been independently validated by the Science Based Targets initiative as of mid-2025.

In product sustainability, Yankee Candle uses soy wax blends in certain product lines and has moved toward more recyclable packaging across the home fragrance portfolio. Rubbermaid commercial products use post-consumer recycled resin in several product lines. The company's Graco business has committed to eliminating harmful chemicals including BPA from baby product materials, consistent with regulatory requirements in the United States and Europe.

Newell Brands is not certified as a B Corporation. The company's supply chain spans multiple countries including China and Mexico, and it participates in supplier auditing programs to monitor labor and environmental practices among key manufacturing partners.

Newell Brands faced significant activist investor pressure beginning in early 2018. Carl Icahn and Starboard Value each acquired stakes and publicly criticized the company's post-merger integration strategy, executive compensation, and board composition. The pressure led to the departure of several board members and CEO Michael Polk in 2019, replaced by Ravi Saligram. Christopher Peterson became CEO in 2023.

In 2022, Newell Brands disclosed material weaknesses in its internal controls over financial reporting related to income tax accounting. The company remediated the weaknesses and restated certain prior financial disclosures. The SEC conducted an investigation into related matters, which Newell Brands disclosed in its annual filings.

The company has faced product liability claims across its various brands over the years, consistent with the nature of its operations in baby products and safety equipment. No single recall or litigation matter has been identified as material to the company's overall financial position in recent public filings.