History of well-known enterprises
WELL KNOWN COMPANY
This article takes you back to 1802
Browse DuPont's 220 years of history
It is the oldest, richest, most peculiar, and largest wealth family in the United States, after more than 200 years of prosperity, its business is the longest-lived company in the world's top 500 companies, passed down from generation to generation; its products are everywhere, you may not be able to live without it for a lifetime, it is the DuPont family business.
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Throughout the 20th century, DuPont's inventions changed the course of world civilization.
Synthetic rubber, nylon, Teflon, polyester, Kevlar, etc., one after another familiar inventions, convenient for people's lives.
But the atomic bombs it produced, a large amount of arms, etc., ruthlessly destroyed people's lives.
From political refugees to arms dealers
DuPont founder Irene DuPont
When Irene DuPont founded the DuPont Company, China was still in the seventh year of the Qing Dynasty (1802).
In 1789, the French Revolution broke out, and the Dupont family, who had been crowned as a dynasty nobleman, fell into a low ebb, and the old Du Pont family was deported and forced into exile in the United States.
Irenaeus Dupont loved chemistry and wrote about gunpowder production at the age of 14. After his father was led to the Royal Bureau of Gunpowder, whose supervisor was the famous chemist, Irenay mastered the production technology of high-grade explosives.
After immigrating to the United States, the DuPont family's business began as a gunpowder factory.
In June 1802, on a farm on the banks of the Brandy River in Delaware, construction began, and in the spring of 1804, the first black powder was produced, which was also the first product of DuPont in the 216-year history.
At that time, there were many explosives factories in the United States, but the quality was very poor, and because the DuPont factory was the latest production equipment purchased by Irenay and his brother Victor from France, the gunpowder in the DuPont factory was definitely the best in the United States that year.
With the support of President Jefferson and the government, in 1807, DuPont became the world's largest explosives factory in production, and by 1820, DuPont had become the largest supplier of gunpowder to the U.S. government.
Family interests always come first
Unlike the century-old family businesses in Europe and even the world that have long been "branched out", DuPont has a strong sense of family, and the wealth is absolutely passed on to the family members.
Vintage cars on display at the El Fraser Dupont Estate
If you've been to the estate of The Old Dupont's great-grandson, El Fraser Dupont, every visitor will get a rose.
Why? This is the tradition of polite hospitality of the old Dupont family.
Founded in 1802, the DuPont Company was a family-owned partnership joint-stock enterprise with a total investment of $36,000 and a total of 18 shares, of which 12 belonged to the DuPont family and were in absolute control.
Dupont (1902-1909) was headed by Elfrize Dupont
In 1834, Irene Dupont, the founder and founder of the Dupont Empire, died.
He was succeeded by his son-in-law, Anthony Peterman, who three years later handed over power to Irenay's three sons.
In the decades that followed, DuPont entered the era of brotherhood and continued the partnership until the fourth generation of family members, Elfrizer Dupont, succeeded him.
El Fraser officially became DuPont at the helm in 1902, at a time when DuPont was well on its way through the first 100 years.
In the past 100 years, DuPont has also experienced ups and downs, such as in the Era of Irene, a gunpowder explosion, which once wiped out the family's wealth.
During the presidency of Madison, he had "wrong way" with the Dupont family, forcing the Du Pont family to "climb the family" with politics.
The former home of El Fraser Dupont
In the first 100 years of DuPont, the operation experienced a one-person decision-making to the collective management of many brothers and many people "without dividing the family", no matter what the way, the family interests were put first.
The early DuPont family regarded the family wealth as a "second life", no salary, the family wealth was attributed to the DuPont company, and the daily needs were provided by DuPont.
In order to "fertilize the water and not flow to the fields of outsiders", the power transmission stick of intergenerational rotation is very unique. In the third generation of DuPont alone, there were 10 pairs of cousins and cousins who were married to each other, in order to pass on the wealth to the family members absolutely.
Another example of family interests is that among the second generation of members, Henry Dupont, a graduate of the West Point Military Academy, took over the leadership and implemented a militarized management operation in DuPont, known as "generals governing enterprises".
However, Henry's two sons were infighting, and he had the ability to manage and manage, and he co-ruled with his cousin Lamot, who loved chemistry, and the family business expanded further.
After Henry's death, the new leader was his nephew Eugene Dupont.
However, Eugene was not a qualified successor, and Due to inexperience and lack of management, DuPont gradually declined.
In 1902, DuPont celebrated its centennial.
Also in that year, Eugene died suddenly. Several elderly directors were caught off guard, and no one wanted to serve as DuPont's new leader.
They felt that the best thing to do was to sell DuPont to rival Lovelyn Thompson. Rand Corporation, then valued at $12 million.
The only young man on the board, Alfred Irene, great-grandson of founder Irenay Irenay · Dupont was greatly dissatisfied with the decision of the old people, and he felt that the ancestral inheritance could not be left in the hands of others, let alone sold to the defeated generals who had always been under his hands.
Alfred proposed, with two cousins Thomas Thomas. Clermont · Dupont and Pierre · Samuel · DuPont joined hands to take over, which is the DuPont ZTE Big Three that people talk about in the future.
Although El Fraser led DuPont for only 7 years, if he had not raised his arms, the Du Pont Empire would not have had another 100 years.
Rooted in the unity consciousness in the brain of each family member and the stable shareholding structure controlled by the family, it is the guarantee that DuPont can inherit for more than 200 years, an important guarantee for continuously improving the quality of DuPont products, and it is actually one of the cores of DuPont's corporate spirit and culture.
DuPont's road to transformation
Dow DuPont Executive Chairman Li Weicheng (right) and CEO Pu Ruiting (left)
On August 31, 2017, Dow Chemical and DuPont completed a peer-to-peer merger to form a new holding company, Dow DuPont, which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on the 1st of the following month.
Founded in 1897, Dow Chemical of the United States and DuPont, founded in 1802, are the leading global developers of new materials and basic materials in the United States, and the merger should belong to a kind of "strong alliance", and the two industries are highly complementary.
For family businesses, mergers and acquisitions are the most effective and convenient way to cope with fierce market competition and accelerate corporate expansion.
Former DuPont Chairman and CEO Ellen Ke
Former DuPont chairman Ellen Ke once said that DuPont's first hundred years made his fortune by gunpowder;
The second century is the rapid growth of the modern chemical industry;
Entering the third century, she hopes to make achievements in many fields such as chemistry, biology, nanotechnology and materials science, and produce more categories and higher quality products.
Judging from Ellen Colin's words five years ago, today's DuPont-Dow cooperation can be regarded as one of the layouts of the third centenary strategy.
Looking back at DuPont's 220-year history is actually a history of continuous change and innovation. DuPont's second 100 years (1902-2002) had two major transformation strategies, one was invention and the other was investment.
The original DuPont Family Garden, a small fountain in Nagaki Park
General Motors, the holding company of the DuPont and Morgan families, National Air Lines, was founded by the DuPont family.
Notable projects invested and acquired by DuPont include the Manhattan Project, The Remington Arms Company, The Waldorf Astoria Hotel, the Wilmington Trust, Christina Securities, and more.
When it comes to investing, the DuPont family has two important principles:
The first is to "invest in the most fortunate location, the most favorable market, the most promising products."
Second, "investment should maintain the maximum profit, at least 10%; ensure that the risk is minimized, and insist on full investment." "Each country has only one factory, which specializes in the production of one product."
It is precisely because of the correct and reasonable investment orientation and principles that generations have adhered to, huge returns have continuously enriched the DuPont family and expanded the family business.
Speaking of inventions, synthetic rubber, nylon, Teflon, polyester, acrylic, etc., were all invented by DuPont.
In addition, the innovation in the management model is also an important part of DuPont's corporate culture, and the "DuPont analysis method" used in the "Big Three" era in 1910 is still an important method for many companies to measure the company's performance with rational numbers.
In addition, DuPont, one of the world's largest chemical and energy groups, has become synonymous with chemical safety through its "Ten Safety Principles".
DuPont's entry into the chemical industry in the second 100 years was also to adapt to the arrival of peacetime, thanks to the "escort" of the US government, which achieved great success after arms in the dye and other chemical industries.
DuPont family home built in 1803
Today, DuPont has become a global industrial leader, entering the third century of the company's sustainable development with the core values of "Responsible Care", and continues to create scientific miracles for people's "food, clothing, housing and transportation".