Lucky Star

American multinational conglomerate

* Aaron Thomsen
* Jennie Thomsen
* Sarah Cunningham
 Products | * Aeronautics
* Agribusiness
* Crude oil
* Entertainment
* Fuel
* Logistics
* Mobile gaming
* Natural gas
* Public transportation
* Petrochemicals
* Pharmaceuticals
* Record label
* Rail
* Retail
 Services | * Asset management
* Financial services
* Hotels
* Hospitality
* Land management
* American Insurance
* Dalton Group
* Echo Labs
* Happy Hotels
* Lucky Star Asset Management Group
* Lucky Star Electronics
* Lucky Star Defense Corporation
* Lucky Star Logistics
* Lucky Star Publishing
* Lucky Star Rail Company
* Lucky Star Entertainment

	+ Lucky Star Records
	+ 777 Entertainment
* Pacific Labs
* Thomsen Pharmaceuticals
* Thomsen Sports Group

Other ventures
* A+ Entertainment (30.5%)

The **Lucky Star Corporation** is an American multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in New York City, New York. It comprises multiple businesses in various industries.

The company was founded in 1983 by Chip and Theodore Thomsen. Lucky Star consists of over 70 companies in various industries including retail, hotels, insurance, financial services, energy, and pharmaceuticals. Lucky Star is one of the largest conglomerates in the United States. The company began as a retail store in New York City. The company expanded into the oil industry later on in the early 1910s. Lucky Star saw its largest growth period throughout the 1920s to 1990s, when they expanded into sports, with the creation of the Thomsen Sports Group, into Pharmaceuticals in the 1940s, and then agriculture in the 1950s.

The company is currently chaired by Brad Thomsen, who took over the comapny in 1992 from his brother Mark Antony Thomsen after he became the full-time owner of the Los Angeles Baseball Club.

## History

The Lucky Star Corporation was founded in 1843 by brothers Chip and Theodore Thomsen in New York as an affordable clothing store. Their first store opened in Manhattan on fifth avenue. Then known as the **Lucky Star Store**, the company opened three new store in Manhattan by 1888. The two opened their first store in Baltimore, Maryland in 1900. The Lucky Star Corporation was then formed as the parent company of the retail stores in 1859. That same year, the *The Washington Gazette* was established by the Thomsen brothers. The newspaper focused on events from a conservative worldview, and quickly caught on in the business, financial and political worlds.

Chip passed away in 1912, leaving Clayton Thomsen to take over the company. The first expansion was the establishment of the American Oil Corporation in Dallas, Texas in 1919. The company was then passed to Nathaniel Thomsen in 1938, who only served as CEO for seven years before Mitch Thomsen took over in 1941. Mitch was already the owner of the Los Angeles Baseball Club and had just founded the Thomsen Sports Group as a holding company for the club. The Thomsen Sports Group was then quickly purchased by Lucky Star in December of 1941 for $350 million dollars.

Mitch Thomsen was responsible for the largest expansion in the company's history. Under his ownership, the club diversified into various industries from finances, asset management, and hospitality.

In 1992, Mark Antony Thomsen stepped down from the board of the company to serve full-time as the owner of the Los Angeles Baseball Club. In his place, Brad Thomsen took control of the company as the chairman.

The most controversial purchase was the 2021 attempted takeover of Korean record label, A+ Entertainment. The June 2021 announcement of Lucky Star's attempted acquisition of the company was met with heavy criticism from the public both in South Korea and in the United States. Despite the widespread criticism, the company went on to purchase a 30.5% share of the company in November of 2022.

## Operations

### Leadership

1. Chip Thomsen (1843–1912)
2. Clayton Thomsen (1912–1938)
3. Nathaniel Thomsen (1938–1941)
4. Mitch Thomsen (1941–1981)
5. Mark Antony Thomsen (1981–1982, 1983–1992)
6. Aaron Thomsen (1982), acting chairman
7. Jayson Thomsen (1992), acting chairman
8. Brad Thomsen (1992–present)

Former United States Senator Luca Trevino is a member of the Board of Trustees since 2023.

Jayden Roberts – Chief Financial Officer

George Daniels – Chief Human Resources Officer

Mark Eberhard – Chief Legal Officer

### Affiliates

Lucky Star was granted a government contract to manufacture weapons and arms by the U.S. government during World War II. The company founded the Lucky Star Defense Corporation to serve as a research, development, and manufacturing arms for weapons for the U,S. Armed Forces.

Lucky Star Asset Management Group is an asset management firm established in 1966.

On April 1, 1952, Thomsen Pharmaceuticals was created as a pharmaceutical manufacturing company.

The Washington Gazette was founded by Mitch Thomsen as a conservative newspaper that initially published in the D.C. metro area. In the 1980s, during the Reagan administration, the newspaper expanded to national publication.

Lucky Star founded the American Insurance Company on March 20, 1964. The company provides life, health insurance, and annuities.

On October 31, 1992, the Lucky Star News Corporation was established as a conservative multinational media corporation. The company owns and operates the conservative television and streaming channel Liberty America and Lucky Star Local News, who own numerous local news stations in the United States and Canada.

On February 19, 2003, Mark Antony Thomsen founded the Thomsen Sports Group as a private entity and holding company. The company was as a private corporation that owned the Los Angeles Olympic Stadium, the home stadium of the Los Angeles Baseball Club of the All-American Baseball League, who are also owned by the Thomsen Sports Group.

On January 13, 2011, the Thomsen Sports Group founded the Los Angeles Stars as a minor league affiliate of the Los Angeles Baseball Club.

Lucky Star Electronics was a short-lived electronic parts manufacturer that produced computer and phone processors. The company produced the Lucky Mobile 1 smartphone in 2018, which only sold 350,000 units. A second model was created in 2021, and sold only 250,000 units.

Echo Labs was founded in 2018 and launched the conservative alt-tech website Echo a year later, and was heavily funded by Brad Thomsen. The iOS app was released on November 25, 2019, with an Android version releasing on January 1, 2020. The Echo app is intended to be an alternative to Twitter, and boasts no censorship of content deemed "offensive" or misleading on other platforms. The app currently has a user base of 2.5 million people. The Echo app immediately gained popularity in conservative circles, and was quickly backed by Liberty America and other notable conservative media outlets and other personalities.

### Defunct and former ventures

Lucky Star Farms was an agricultural venture founded in 1950, and dissolved in 1979. The company purchased over 2,000 acres of land in Kansas and Nebraska. The venture was met a with strong and swift backlash from the communities the company purchased land from. The business ultimately failed due to investors pulling their money from the venture, and financial mismanagement in the 1970s.

On July 18, 2023, Lucky Star announced it would divesting the parts of the news division including the Liberty America and the Washington Gazette while keeping the local news divisions. This comes as the company tries to change their image, aiming to remove the opinion and personality style of news reporting. The company also seeks to distance themselves from some of the far-right personalities the channel platformed including controversial far-right agitator Drew Morris. The new company is going to be called the Liberty America Corporation.

## Acquisitions and attempted acquisitions

On May 31, 1967 Lucky Star acquired Pacific Labs based in Rockville, Maryland that specializes in pharmaceutical research.

On December 24, 1969, Lucky Star bought the Dalton Group, an American retail land management company, the owners of a national shopping mall chain in the United States.

On September 11, 1971, Lucky Star purchased a 55% share in the Happy Hotels company. Later in 2012, Happy Hotels was purchased outright by Lucky Star for $350 million.

On February 13, 2017, Lucky Star acquired Creative Games, foudned by Alexander Chu for $45 million dollars. The company was then moved to a subsidiary of the Lucky Star Electronics company.

On June 1, 2021, Lucky Star attempted to outright purchase Korean record label A+ Entertainment for $225 million USD (₩295,081,875,000). The purchase was rejected by the company on June 4, and a counter offer of $330 million was offered instead. The second offer was also rejected, this time by Lucky Star. A+ Entertainment then provided a second offer of $266 million, which was also rejected by Lucky Star. Hybe Corporation also tried to purchase the label, and offered approximately $244 million, however no deal was made. Another offer from YG Entertainment was made for an undisclosed amount. The two sides were unable to come to any agreement. Negotiations persisted for a year and a half, until in November of 2022, Lucky Star purchased a 30.5% share in the company, with the option for an additional 21% share currently being agreed upon.

## Corporate image

The Lucky Star logo since 2020 has been a simple wordmark logo with the words Lucky Star in red, and a small blue star in between. The logo was briefly changed during 2020 but was returned to the original design after calls to return the logo to the classic design.

## Sponsorships

Lucky Star purchased the naming rights for MetLife Stadium, the home stadium of the New York Jets and the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) for $76 million in 2023, the current deal for the stadium's naming rights is set to expire in 2033.

## Controversies

### Union busting

Numerous attempts to unionize have been made by employees of the various subsidiaries of Lucky Star. Including employees of Happy Hotels in 2019–2020, which ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Another strike began in 2023 and is currently ongoing.

Lucky Star has also donated to various candidates who support right-to-work laws, and other anti-union policies.

### Happy Hotels scandals

Main article: 2018–19 Happy Hotels scandal
Happy Hotels were accused of being used as a place for human trafficking in locations in the Middle East, South Asia, and in Central and South America. Additional allegations against executives of the company came forth later on accusing higher-ups of paying hotel masseuses to have sex in the message and spa areas of hotels inclduing at their flagship hotel in Manhattan, New York.

### Affiliation with the Sunlight Shiners Club

Multiple members of the Thomsen family are members of the controversial Sunlight Shiners Club organization, a new religious movement founded by Kris Wu. According to multiple sources, up to $250 million dollars of company funds have been donated to the organization in exchange for preferential treatment. This includes donations from both Mark Antony Thomsen and Brad Thomsen. Lucky Star officially denied any ties wihth the controversial group. It is believed that ties with cut between the two sides in 2023 as the organization attempts to distance themselves from the far-right.

### Arms smuggling

Main article: 2015–2022 Lucky Star arms smuggling controversy
The Lucky Star Corporation from 2015 to 2022 donated weapons and weapon systems to the New State of Taaugug, who had just taken over the Ione Province and was being sanctioned by international community. The company donated AK-47s and smuggled intelligence and anti-air and anti-tank weapons systems to the insurgency group. The company alleged that this funding was being done with the express consent of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and with support from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Both agencies were quick to distance themselves from the company, however it was later discovered that express consent from President David Song and then by his successor Eric Juarez. The latter was impeached and later but pardoned by President Jacob Villarreal. Former Secretary of Defense Augustus Cleverly resigned from his post in 2023.