Cecily Zamora
Since the 2020 elections, there have been numerous viral claims on social media that Joe Biden's brother-in-law owns Dominion Voting Systems. However, these claims are false. Joe Biden's sister, Valerie Biden Owens, is married to Jack Owens, not Stephen Owens, the co-founder of Staple Street Capital, which acquired Dominion Voting Systems in 2018. There is no familial relationship between Stephen Owens and Valerie Biden Owens.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Joe Biden's brother-in-law | Does not own Dominion Voting Systems |
| The name of Joe Biden's sister | Valerie Biden Owens |
| Who is Valerie Biden Owens married to? | John T. Owens, also known as Jack T. Owens |
| Who is Stephen Owens? | Co-founder of Staple Street Capital, which acquired Dominion Voting Systems in 2018 |
| Is there a relationship between Stephen Owens and John T. Owens? | No |
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What You'll Learn
Joe Biden's sister is Valerie Biden Owens
Joe Biden's sister, Valerie Biden Owens, is an American political strategist, campaign manager, and former educator. She is one of the first women in the United States to have managed a modern US Senatorial campaign, as well as a Presidential campaign. Valerie has played a substantial role in all of her brother's political campaigns, including his seven straight US Senate victories and his run for two Democratic Presidential nominations. She also served as a senior advisor to his successful 2020 presidential campaign. Valerie has also worked with organisations like Women's Campaign International to teach women how to develop and grow their political skills.
Valerie Biden Owens was born on November 5, 1945, in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, to Catherine Eugenia "Jean" (née Finnegan) and Joseph Robinette Biden Sr. She is married to Jack Owens (also referred to as John T. Owens), an attorney and businessman who owns a telemedicine company in Delaware. They have three children: Cuffe Owens, an attorney, and two daughters, Missy Owens and Casey Owens Castello. Valerie was previously married to Bruce Saunders, whom she married shortly after graduating from college.
In 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Valerie as the alternate representative of the United States to the 71st Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. She has also served as the Executive Vice President of Joe Slade White and Company, a media consulting firm in the United States. Valerie has travelled the world as a motivational speaker and teacher of leadership and communication seminars. She has published an autobiography, "Growing Up Biden", detailing her decades-long professional career in politics and her central role in her brother's life.
Regarding the claim that Joe Biden's brother-in-law owns Dominion Voting Systems, it has been fact-checked and debunked by USA TODAY and other sources. Valerie Biden Owens is married to Jack/John T. Owens, and there is no familial relationship with Stephen Owens, the co-founder of a private equity firm that acquired Dominion Voting Systems in 2018.
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Valerie Biden Owens is married to John Owens
It is false that Joe Biden's brother-in-law owns Dominion Voting Systems. Joe Biden has one sister, Valerie Biden Owens, who is not married to Stephen Owens, the co-owner of Dominion Voting Systems. Valerie Biden Owens is married to John Owens, a businessman and attorney, with whom she has three children: Valerie James Owens, Cuffe Biden Owens, and Catherine Eugenia Owens.
Valerie Biden Owens is an American political strategist, campaign manager, and former educator. She is the younger sister of Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States. Owens has played a significant role in all of her brother's political campaigns, including his seven successful U.S. Senate elections and two presidential campaigns. She also served as a senior advisor to his successful 2020 presidential campaign. In addition to her political work, Owens has been involved with the Delaware service organization, Ministry of Caring, for over 35 years and has worked extensively with Women's Campaign International to teach women how to develop their political skills.
John Owens, Valerie Biden Owens' husband, is the owner of a telemedicine company in Delaware. He is also an attorney and businessman. Together, they have three children. Valerie Biden Owens was previously married to Bruce Saunders, whom she married shortly after graduating from college. Bruce and Valerie lived with Joe Biden and his two sons, Hunter and Beau, after the death of Joe's wife, Neilia, in a car crash in 1972. Valerie helped care for her nephews while Joe began his first term as a senator in 1973.
In conclusion, Valerie Biden Owens, the sister of Joe Biden, is married to John Owens, a businessman and attorney. She does not have any relation to Stephen Owens, the co-owner of Dominion Voting Systems. These claims about a connection between Joe Biden and Dominion Voting Systems are baseless and have been debunked by various sources.
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John Owens is not related to Stephen Owens
Since the 2020 Election Day, the internet has been rife with baseless claims about Dominion Voting Systems. Several users have claimed that US President Joe Biden's brother-in-law owns Dominion Voting Systems. However, these claims are false. Joe Biden has only one sister, Valerie Biden Owens, who is married to John T. Owens, the owner of a telemedicine company in Delaware. Valerie Biden Owens and John T. Owens have three children together.
Dominion Voting Systems is part-owned by Stephen Owens, who co-runs the private equity firm Staple Street Capital. Staple Street Capital and Dominion's management team acquired Dominion in 2018. Stephen Owens bears no relation to either John Owens or Valerie Biden Owens. A spokesperson for Dominion Voting Systems confirmed to Lead Stories that there are no familial connections between Stephen Owens and Valerie Biden Owens. Further, a spokesperson for Staple Street Capital confirmed that Stephen Owens has no relationship with the Biden family.
It is also not true that Stephen Owens is the son of Valerie Biden Owens and John Owens, as some have claimed.
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Stephen Owens co-founded Staple Street Capital, which owns Dominion Voting Systems
There is no evidence to support the claim that Biden's brother-in-law owns Dominion Voting Systems. In fact, USA TODAY and AP News have debunked this claim. Joe Biden's sister, Valerie Biden Owens, is married to Jack T. Owens, who owns a telemedicine company in Delaware. There is no familial relationship between Biden and Stephen Owens, the co-founder of Staple Street Capital, which acquired Dominion Voting Systems in 2018.
Staple Street Capital is a private equity firm founded in 2009 and based in New York. Stephen D. Owens and Hootan Yaghoobzadeh are its co-founders and Board members of Dominion Voting. Owens co-founded Staple Street Capital in 2010 and previously worked at Lehman Brothers in their New York and Hong Kong offices, where he focused on merchant banking and M&A transactions. He also worked at The Carlyle Group, where he was a member of the firm's U.S. Buyout team and co-founded the Global Consumer & Retail Group.
Dominion Voting Systems was acquired by its management team and Staple Street Capital in 2018. Staple Street Capital is a small private equity company that has not raised capital or had substantial new investors since 2014/2015 of about $200 million. However, after a rushed Delaware Corp. filing in October 2020, Staple Street notified the U.S. SEC that they were expecting a minimum of $800 million. The official website of Staple Street Capital has since deleted the team's introduction.
In 2023, Staple Street Capital received a $787.5 million settlement from Fox Corp. after its cable channel, Fox News, aired false claims about Dominion machines facilitating fraud in the 2020 U.S. election. This settlement amount is about half of the $1.6 billion in damages that Dominion was seeking in its lawsuit.
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Dominion Voting Systems was the subject of misinformation by conservatives
Dominion Voting Systems has been the target of misinformation by conservative groups and supporters of former President Donald Trump. The misinformation campaign began after Trump's election loss to President Joe Biden in 2020. The company was accused of rigging the election in Biden's favor, with voting machines changing votes through algorithms created in Venezuela to rig elections for the late dictator Hugo Chavez. These claims were spread by Trump and his allies, including Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, and amplified by Fox News. The false allegations resulted in Dominion employees, from software engineers to the founder, receiving harassment and death threats. The company also suffered significant economic harm.
Dominion Voting Systems has filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, arguing that the news network spread false claims of election fraud to boost its ratings. The lawsuit asserts that Fox News "sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process." This is the first defamation suit filed by Dominion against a media outlet, and the company has also sued Giuliani, Powell, and the CEO of Minnesota-based MyPillow over similar claims.
In addition to the lawsuits, fact-checking organizations have debunked the baseless allegations against Dominion Voting Systems. USA TODAY, for example, has refuted claims that Joe Biden's brother-in-law owns Dominion Voting Systems. Valerie Biden Owens, Biden's sister, is married to Jack T. Owens, not Stephen Owens, who is a co-founder of a private equity firm that acquired Dominion Voting Systems in 2018. There is no familial relationship between Valerie Biden Owens and Stephen Owens, and her husband does not own Dominion Voting Systems.
The spread of misinformation about Dominion Voting Systems by conservative groups and individuals highlights the potential consequences of disseminating false information. It has led to harassment, death threats, and economic harm for the company and its employees. The filing of defamation lawsuits by Dominion Voting Systems is an attempt to hold accountable those who spread misinformation and to seek compensation for the damage caused.
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Frequently asked questions
No, Joe Biden's brother-in-law does not own Dominion Voting Systems. Biden's sister, Valerie Biden Owens, is married to John "Jack" Owens, not Stephen Owens, the co-founder of the private equity firm that acquired Dominion Voting Systems in 2018.
Dominion Voting Systems is a voting company that sells election hardware and software to state and local governments in the United States and Canada.
After the 2020 elections, Dominion Voting Systems was the subject of misinformation by conservatives, who claimed that Joe Biden's sister was married to the owner of the company, creating a conflict of interest.
