Fort Wayne Metals Joins Axel Johnson Inc. in Full Ownership Transition

NEW YORK & FORT WAYNE, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 1, 2026--

Axel Johnson Inc. (AJI) and Fort Wayne Metals Research Products, LLC today announced the successful closing of their previously announced ownership transition. Under the terms of the agreement, AJI has acquired 100% ownership of Fort Wayne Metals Research Products, LLC (collectively, with its subsidiaries, “Fort Wayne Metals”) from the Glaze family.

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Founded in 1970, Fort Wayne Metals is a leading manufacturer of precision materials used in life-changing medical devices and other critical applications. Built on a reputation for innovation, quality, and deep customer partnerships, the company's products help enable millions of medical procedures each year and play a critical role in advancing healthcare around the world.

AJI initially invested in Fort Wayne Metals in 2021 and has worked closely with the company over the past several years. With the transaction now complete, Fort Wayne Metals begins its next phase with AJI as its full owner, reinforcing a shared commitment to the company’s employees, customers, and communities. The transaction expands AJI’s presence within the Healthcare & Life Sciences sector, guided by a shared belief that business should be a force for good, creating lasting value and meaningful societal impact.

“Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Fort Wayne Metals and AJI,” said Sara Greenstein, Chief Executive Officer of Axel Johnson Inc. “Over the past several years, we've come to know this business well and have developed a deep appreciation for its talented people, strong customer relationships, and commitment to innovation. What excites us most are the opportunities ahead. Together, we will continue investing in the capabilities, products, and people that have made Fort Wayne Metals a recognized industry leader while building on its extraordinary legacy of improving lives around the world.”

Jeremy Rohrs, President & Chief Executive Officer of Fort Wayne Metals, added, “This milestone represents an exciting opportunity for our employees, customers, and partners. AJI has been a valued partner since 2021, and throughout that time they have consistently demonstrated a long-term mindset, respect for our culture, and confidence in our team. As we look ahead, we are well positioned to accelerate our growth, continue innovating for our customers, and build on our legacy of enabling solutions that improve lives and advance innovation around the world.”

Fort Wayne Metals will remain headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where it has operated for more than five decades.

About Axel Johnson Inc.
Founded in 1920 and headquartered in New York City, Axel Johnson Inc. (AJI) is a family owned investment company committed to using business as a force for positive change.

AJI takes a partnership-based, long-term approach to ownership, acquiring and growing businesses that deliver meaningful societal impact and lasting enterprise value. Across this family of businesses, each company contributes to a healthier, safer, and more sustainable world.

Home to more than 5,500 employees, AJI operates globally as an independent member of the Axel Johnson Group, a five-generation family enterprise built by the Johnson family of Stockholm, Sweden, with approximately 40,000 employees across the group, including Axel Johnson AB, AxFast, and Altocumulus. Learn more at www.axeljohnson.com.

About Fort Wayne Metals Research Products, LLC
Fort Wayne Metals is a global leader in the development and manufacturing of high performance materials for medical and industrial applications. With a strong legacy of innovation and quality, the company partners with customers to deliver solutions that support life-impacting products around the world. Learn more at fwmetals.com.

Sara Greenstein, Chief Executive Officer of Axel Johnson Inc.

Jeremy Rohrs, President & Chief Executive Officer of Fort Wayne Metals.

NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Willis, who co-founded the Village People, co-wrote the disco group's classic hits “Y.M.C.A.,” ″Macho Man” and “In the Navy,” and delighted crowds while dressed as the band's helmeted and mustachioed police officer, has died. He was 74.

“We are profoundly sad to announce the death of Victor Willis, lead singer of Village People," the group posted on its official Facebook page. The cause was identified as “a short but aggressive illness.”

Willis was a musician-actor who, among other things, had appeared on Broadway in “The Wiz” when he decided to cash in on the disco craze in 1977 by joining a group made up of beefy, macho-looking guys dressed as a biker, a construction worker, a cop, a cowboy and a Native American chief.

With producer Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo, Morali’s business partner, Willis founded the six-member Village People. The idea came to them while partying at an after-hours gay nightclub in the West Village of Manhattan. The group’s self-titled debut album was released in 1977.

In 1978, the group released two albums, “Macho Man” and “Cruisin’” — which featured the international hit “Y.M.C.A.,” a song that peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard chart. A year later, Village People released the album “Go West,” which included “In the Navy,” a song that peaked at No. 3 on the chart. “Macho Man” peaked at No. 25 in 1978.

In 2020, Congress described “Y.M.C.A.” — with its infectious chorus of “It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.” and an accompanying dance spelling out the letters — as “an American phenomenon” and added the song to the National Recording Registry. In 2021, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Willis also starred in the 1980 movie “Can’t Stop the Music,” a widely ridiculed comedy starring the Village People and Steve Guttenberg and directed by Nancy Walker. Critic Rex Reed called it "one of the silliest movies ever made."

Village People music is the backbone of pool parties, high school dances, weddings, proms, bar mitzvahs, games and whenever an uplifting mood is needed. The songs also played at gay marches and the White House.

“We will think of Victor every time ‘Y.M.C.A.’ is played, like today, and all throughout this July Fourth Birthday week,” President Donald Trump wrote on social media Wednesday. “My condolences to his wonderful family and group, Victor Willis will be sorely missed.”

While musicians like Neil Young, John Fogerty, Phil Collins, Panic! At The Disco and the estates of Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty and Prince sent cease-and-desist letters to stop Trump from using their music, Willis said he didn't feel he was endorsing Trump when the song played.

Willis was born in Texas and grew up in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. When he moved to New York, he went to a YMCA on West 63rd Street in Manhattan, which inspired the hit song.

The ownership of Village People's songs came into doubt decades after the hits, and in 2015, a federal jury ruled that Willis was entitled to 50% copyright ownership in the United States of 13 of the group’s songs, including “Y.M.C.A.”

After a series of arrests on drug-related charges that resulted in a rehab stint, Willis told The Associated Press in 2012 that his life had turned around. “Life is fine. I went through whatever I went through, but everything is going great now,” he said.

In May, Willis and the Village People — he was the only original member — sang “Happy Birthday” and “Y.M.C.A.” for Secretary of State Marco Rubio during an event in India.

FILE - Victor Willis, a member of the disco group The Village People, appears during a Halloween party in Los Angeles on Oct. 31, 1979. (AP Photo/George Brich, File)