Few brands are as famous as Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Kids trade them at Halloween, and adults keep a bag in the pantry. But who actually owns the brand?
The short answer is easy. The longer answer involves a candy maker with six sons, a famous chocolate town, and a school trust that still holds the vote today.
Reese’s is owned by The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY). The Hershey Trust Company controls Hershey with about 79% of the votes.
Who Owns Reese’s in 2026?
Reese’s is a wholly owned brand of The Hershey Company, based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It is not a separate public company, and it has no stock of its own. The trademarks, recipes, and factories all belong to Hershey.
Hershey itself is public, so anyone can buy its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. But one holder has far more power than the rest. That holder is the Hershey Trust Company, which votes the shares of the Milton Hershey School Trust.
Ownership and Key Stakeholders Table
| Owner / Party | Role | Stake | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) | Parent company | 100% of the Reese’s brand | Bought the H.B. Reese Candy Company on July 2, 1963 |
| Hershey Trust Company (for the Milton Hershey School Trust) | Controlling shareholder of Hershey | About 28% of equity, about 79% of votes | Holds about 54.6 million Class B shares |
| Vanguard Group | Largest institutional holder | Roughly 9.5% of common stock | Passive index funds |
| BlackRock | Institutional holder | About 6% of common stock | Passive index funds |
| Kirk Tanner | President and CEO of Hershey | No controlling stake | CEO since August 18, 2025 |
| H.B. Reese Candy Company | Subsidiary | Wholly owned by Hershey | Original company kept as a separate unit |
| Reese family | Former owners | None | Sold through the 1963 merger |
| Public shareholders | Remaining owners | Rest of common stock | Trade HSY on the NYSE |
How Reese’s Began: A Candy Maker and His Big Idea
H.B. Reese was a former Hershey worker who started the H.B. Reese Candy Company in 1923. He used Hershey chocolate to coat his candy. In 1928, he introduced the peanut butter cup.
It sold so well that he dropped his other candies. Reese died in 1956, and his six sons took over, as Wikipedia explains.
How Hershey Came to Own Reese’s
On July 2, 1963, the Reese brothers merged their company into the Hershey Chocolate Corporation. It was a tax-free, stock-for-stock deal. That means the family received Hershey shares instead of cash.
Just six years later, in 1969, Reese’s cups became Hershey’s top seller. Hershey still keeps the H.B. Reese Candy Company as a subsidiary. One reason is that the Reese plant workforce is not unionized, unlike the main Hershey plant.
The Hershey Trust: The Real Power Behind Reese’s
In 1909, Milton and Catherine Hershey set up a trust for the Milton Hershey School, a school for children in need. That trust later became the company’s controlling owner.
Today the Hershey Trust Company holds about 54.6 million Class B shares, which is nearly all of that class. Each Class B share gets 10 votes, while a regular share gets one. According to Hershey’s proxy filing, that gives the trust about 78.8% of the votes when both classes vote together.
Yet the trust owns only about 28% of the company’s equity. So it controls far more than it owns. In July 2026, it sold 30,000 common shares worth about $5.2 million, but it kept all of its Class B shares.
Why Hershey Is Hard to Buy
The trust has turned away big offers before. In 2016, Hershey rejected a $23 billion bid from Mondelez at $107 a share, as NBC News reported. A planned sale in 2002 also fell apart after public criticism.
In December 2024, the trust said no again to a first offer from Mondelez, calling it too low, according to Bloomberg. Mondelez then announced a $9 billion buyback and said it would focus on smaller deals.
Who Are the Biggest Shareholders of Hershey?
Besides the trust, big index funds hold large blocks of stock. Vanguard owns roughly 9.5% of the common stock, and BlackRock holds about 6%. Both firms also sit near the top of the shareholder list at Papa John’s.
The rest of the shares belong to other funds and everyday investors. None of them can outvote the trust.
Who Runs Hershey and Reese’s Today?
Kirk Tanner became President and CEO on August 18, 2025, replacing Michele Buck. Hershey reported $11.7 billion in sales for 2025.
In the first quarter of 2026, net sales rose 10.6% to about $3.1 billion. Reese’s non-seasonal retail sales rose 10%, according to the company’s first-quarter report. In the second quarter, sales grew 6.6% to $2.79 billion, and Hershey raised its 2026 earnings forecast, as Food Business Africa reported.
How Big Is the Reese’s Brand?
Reese’s brought in more than $3 billion in sales in 2023, based on slides from Hershey’s 2024 shareholder meeting, Chowhound reports. It was long the top-selling candy in the country, until M&M’s passed it in 2024. Mars, the family-owned maker of M&M’s, also owns KIND snacks.
Hershey makes about 25 million Reese’s cups every day, according to the brand’s website. It also makes Kit Kat in the U.S. under a license from Nestlé, which owns that brand everywhere else. Reese’s Puffs cereal is made by General Mills.
Hershey is one of the biggest names in packaged snacks, and it sits among America’s largest food and beverage companies.
The 2026 Recipe Debate
On February 14, 2026, Brad Reese, a grandson of H.B. Reese, posted an open letter on LinkedIn. He said Hershey had quietly swapped some ingredients in Reese’s products. Hershey said it has no formal relationship with him, as AOL reported.
Hershey said its classic cups are made the way they always were. It said it only adjusts some recipes for new shapes and sizes. In March 2026, CEO Tanner confirmed that a “chocolate coating compound” had been used on several Reese’s products. He said Hershey would return to classic milk and dark chocolate recipes.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Who owns Reese’s in 2026?
The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) owns Reese’s, and the Hershey Trust Company controls Hershey.
Q2. When did Hershey buy Reese’s?
Hershey bought it on July 2, 1963, in a tax-free stock-for-stock merger with the H.B. Reese Candy Company.
Q3. Who invented Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups?
H.B. Reese introduced them in 1928.
Q4. Who controls the Hershey Company?
The Hershey Trust Company holds about 79% of the votes through Class B shares.
Q5. Who is the CEO of Hershey?
Kirk Tanner has been President and CEO since August 18, 2025.
Q6. Does the Reese family still own Reese’s?
No. The family sold in 1963, and Hershey says it has no formal relationship with Brad Reese.
Q7. Is Reese’s owned by Mars or Nestlé?
No. Mars owns M&M’s, and Nestlé owns Kit Kat, which Hershey makes in the U.S. under license.
Q8. Can I buy Reese’s stock?
Not on its own, but you can buy Hershey (HSY) shares on the NYSE.
Reese’s is owned by The Hershey Company, which bought the H.B. Reese Candy Company in 1963. Hershey is public, but the Hershey Trust Company holds about 79% of the votes through Class B shares. The trust uses that power to fund the Milton Hershey School and to keep the company independent.
Under CEO Kirk Tanner, Reese’s remains Hershey’s star brand. It sells billions of dollars of candy each year, and it is not for sale.
Official Website: hersheyland.com/reeses