W. Garfield Weston - Disclosure

Disclosure

In December 1966, following enquiries by a Canadian parliamentary committee examining consumer prices, George Weston Limited revealed the full extent of its corporate holdings. Organizational charts showed 150 active companies with $2.8 billion in annual sales, $43 million in operating profits, and company assets approaching $800 million, with over 1,800 retail stores and more than 1,500 franchise operations. Press reports described George Weston Limited and subsidiary Loblaw Companies Limited as the fifth largest merchandiser in the world. They further indicated that Garfield Weston, in terms of international holdings, was the second most profitable merchandiser in the world, and the third largest in sales.

As Garfield Weston approached his 70th year, it was announced that he was stepping down as Chairman of Associated British Foods in favour of his son Garry Weston, who first took charge of Ryvita in 1951 and then spent more than a decade expanding company operations in Australia. "My main job now is to take the day-to-day operations of the group off my father's shoulders", Garry Weston was quoted at the time. Garfield Weston assumed the new post of ABF President.