The Merage family (Persian: خانوادهٔ معراج, /məˈrɑːdʒ/) is a wealthy Iranian Jewish family residing in Orange County, California.[1] In 2004 the Merage Jewish Community Center[2] opened in Irvine, California; the center was named after the Merage Family and serves the needs of Orange County.
| The Merage Family خانوادهٔ معراج | |
|---|---|
| Current region | United States |
| Place of origin | Iran (Persia) |
| Estate(s) | Orange County, California |
David and Paul Merage[3] co-founded Chef America Inc. where they created the popular microwavable snack Hot Pockets in the early 1980s. The brothers later sold the Chef America Inc. company to Nestlé for $2.6 billion.[4] Hot Pockets were manufactured in Englewood, Colorado, Chef America's former headquarters, until moving its business to the rest of Nestlé's frozen business in Solon, Ohio.[5]
Paul Merage's daughter Michelle Janavs, a food executive who was at one point regarded as the Hot Pockets "heiress," was later implicated in the notorious Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal and later sentenced in February 2020 to five months in prison after pleading guilty to paying Rick Singer $100,000 to fix test scores for her two daughters so they could be admitted into the University of Southern California.[6][7]
References
edit- ^ Jewish Journal: "Photo Essay: L.A.’s Iranian Jews repaying Alliance’s generosity" by Karmel Melamed November 2, 2008
- ^ "Merage Jewish Community Center of Orange County, California". Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
- ^ "Meet Our Leaders". Shaping the Future of Global Leaders. University of California, Irvine. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
- ^ "Special Lecture by David Merage, Entrepreneur and Co-Founder, Chef America". MIT. 30 April 2008. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
- ^ "Nestle to Move HOT POCKETS® and LEAN POCKETS® Business to Ohio". Solon, Ohio, US: PR Newswire. February 6, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
- ^ Garrison, Joey (February 25, 2020). "Hot Pockets heiress Michelle Janavs gets 5 months in prison in admissions scandal". USA Today. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
- ^ "Admissions scandal: Heir to Hot Pockets fortune sentenced to 5 month". Los Angeles Times. February 25, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2021.