Hanes
John Wesley Hanes' brother Pleasant H. Hanes founded the P.H. Hanes Knitting Company in 1901. The brothers previously operated a tobacco manufacturing business, that they sold to R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1900. The P.H. Hanes Knitting Company merged with Hanes Hosiery in 1965. The P.H. Hanes Knitting Company complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Consolidated Foods (later renamed Sara Lee) announced its purchase of Hanes in 1978.
John Wesley Hanes II
In June 1940, John Hanes II was hired by the financially troubled United States Lines and its parent company, the International Mercantile Marine Company. Hanes was made a member of the company's Board of Directors and named chairman of the executive committee for both entities. Such was his reputation that a month later, John Hanes II was also hired by the Hearst Corporation to restructure that debt-ridden company's finances. He was made a member of the company's Board of Directors which appointed him Chairman of the Finance Committee.