H.B. Reese invented Reeses Peanut Butter Cups after founding the H.B. Reese Candy Company in 1923. Reese died on May 16, 1956 in West Palm Beach, Florida leaving the company to his six sons. On July 2, 1963 the H.B. Reese Candy Company was acquired by the Hershey Chocolate Corporation in a tax free stock-for-stock merger. In 2017 after 54-years of stock splits, the original 666,316 shares of Hershey common stock received by the Reese family represented 16 million Hershey shares valued at over $1.8 billion that pay annual cash dividends of $42 million. In 1969, only 6-years after the Reese/Hershey merger, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups became The Hershey Companys top seller. As of September 20, 2012, Reeses is the best-selling candy brand in the United States with sales of $2.603 billion, and is the fourth-best-selling candy brand globally with sales of $2.679 billion—only $76 million (2.8%) of its sales are from outside the United States market.
How many years after the six sons acquired H.B. Reese Candy Company was it then sold to the Hershey Chocolate Corporation?
7