The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-08-26
BY JOdN w. HUI


Financial Editor, Iron Trade Review
The General Motors Corporation
the brilliant jewel of the du Port
industrial crown, has been under
the virtual control of this famous
family since 1920.
The story of how this came about
and how General Motors was trans
formed from struggling concern to
the outstanding success of the age is
one of tks most amazing chapters
in the pages of industrial history.
Durant Started 1t
The breath of life first was
breathed inOo General Motors by
william G. Durant. He organized
the concern back in 1908, blending
together a pack of financial troubles
as well as consolidating properties.
Within a space of two years he
was forced to obtain a bank loan
of $15,000,000. One of the conditions
Of the loan imposed by bankers was
that control should be placed in a
voting trust until Oct. /, 1915.
AT That time John j. Raskob,
New York boy who had started to
work for the du Points as steno-
glapher, had worked his way up to
a place as an official in the du Pont
corporation. Raskob's rise with his
employers had been rapid and they
appreciated his keen foresight.
Pierre S. du Pont valued his judg-
ment. When the young man came
to him with a great vision of the
possibilities of the automobile n
dustry and particularly in the pos
sibilities of the field for General
Motors, he listened.
AS a result OF young RaSkob's
investigation the du Points pur-
chased few shares of General
Motors common stock.
Du Points Held Control
In 1915 the end of the voting trust
period drew near. 1t was found that
du Points holdings in General Mo-
tors, consisting of something slight
ly less than 5000 shares, constituted
the balance of power between the
Durant interests and the bankers.
The outcome of the situation was
that the bankers and the Durant
party each placed seven men on the
directorate and du Pont was per-
mitted to place three. making n
board of seventeen. Raskob was one
of du Points appointees and Pierre
S. du Pont himself was elected pres
ident. This was the entry into what
has proved to be one of the most
profitable investments ever made.
In 1923 du Pont handed over the
presidency to Alfred P. Sloan and
took the position of chairman.
Raskob Again
The du Pont interest in the cor
poration at the start was only
small one. But during the war the
parent du Pont corporation piled III
huge profits which had to be put to
work elsewhere. Again Raskob came
forward for General Motors and got
a ready ear.
The company was first organized
100 years ago by E. 1. du Pont t.
make gun Lowder, an art he mad
learned in Fance.
From iny beginning the COM
pany has grown to it's present i'm
mense size. Powder and explosives
remained the chief product for
many years. But chemical research
added to the list of manufactures
one by one, until now the company
includes multitude of divers prod
uctS ranging from baby's teething
rings to smokeless. powder and au-
tomobile paint.
Family Works Together
The present active head of the
Wilmington Del) family Of du
Points and the man who first rec
ognized the possibilities of General
Motors is Pierre S., who is 81.
Irene du Point was president of the
E. I. du Pont Nemours Co., but
more recently he has been passing
many of>his burdens to other shoul-
ders.
Lammont du Pont, the youngest
brother, and regarded as tremen-
dously able, is now president of the
Nemours Company. But the family
mills in team u,rrlr opd aI7 x.o;a.,