Fact check: Which major US companies have relocated their headquarters to other countries?

1. Summary of the results

Based on the analyses provided, numerous major US companies have relocated their headquarters to other countries, primarily through a practice called corporate inversion to avoid paying higher US tax rates.

Confirmed companies that have relocated include:

• Medtronic - moved to Ireland ^{[1] [2] [3]}
• Burger King - moved abroad through Restaurant Brands International ^{[1] [2] [4]}
• Budweiser - no longer headquartered in the US ^{[2] [4]}
• AbbVie - relocated to Ireland ^{[5] [3]}
• Samsonite - moved overseas ^[1]
• Carnival Corporation - involved in inversion ^[6]
• XL Group PLC and Garmin Ltd. - reincorporated in low-tax countries ^[6]

Additional companies mentioned as no longer being American-headquartered:

• Purina, McDermott, Seagate Technology, Good Humor, Frigidaire, Actavis/Allergan, Lucky Strike ^[2]
• Tupperware, Firestone, Ben & Jerry's, 7-Eleven, Smithfield Foods, IBM's PC business, AMC Theatres, General Electric appliances, Trader Joe's, Holiday Inn, Hoover, and Sunglass Hut ^[4]

Primary destinations for these relocations include Ireland, Bermuda, and Switzerland due to their significantly lower corporate tax rates ^[6].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks important context about when these relocations occurred and the policy responses that followed. A crucial missing piece is that since the 2017 Trump tax cuts, no major American corporation has inverted overseas ^[7], suggesting the relocations were primarily a pre-2017 phenomenon.

Different perspectives on the impact:

• Corporate viewpoint: Companies relocated to remain competitive globally by reducing tax burdens that were significantly higher in the US compared to countries like Ireland (17-18% vs 25% for Pfizer) ^[8]
• Policy critic viewpoint: These moves represent lost tax revenue for the US government and demonstrate how multinational corporations benefit while regular Americans are hurt ^[5]
• Policy supporter viewpoint: The 2017 tax relief successfully kept American companies and jobs in America by addressing the tax disadvantage ^[7]

Who benefits from different narratives:

• Multinational corporations benefit from narratives that justify tax optimization strategies
• Political figures who supported tax reform benefit from evidence that their policies stopped corporate departures
• Tax policy critics benefit from highlighting ongoing corporate tax avoidance despite policy changes

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question itself is neutral and factual - it simply asks for information about corporate relocations. However, the question could be misleading by omission if used without proper temporal context.

Potential bias in the sources:

• One source appears to have political bias by crediting Trump's tax cuts with stopping inversions while simultaneously arguing these same policies increased offshoring (p2_s2 vs p1_s2)
• The framing varies significantly between sources - some present relocations as legitimate business strategy while others frame them as tax avoidance schemes
• Some analyses focus on successful policy intervention ^[7] while others emphasize ongoing corporate tax avoidance ^{[5] [3]}

The most significant potential for misinformation lies in timing context - discussing these relocations without noting that the practice largely stopped after 2017 tax reform could create a misleading impression about current corporate behavior ^[7].