DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in the development of the U.S. state of Delaware and first arose as a major supplier of gunpowder. DuPont developed many polymers such as Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar, Kapton, Kevlar, Zemdrain, Nomex, Tyvek, Sorona, viton, Corfam and Lycra in the 20th century, and its scientists developed many chemicals, most notably Freon (chlorofluorocarbons), for the refrigerant industry. It also developed synthetic pigments and paints including ChromaFlair.
In 2015, DuPont and the Dow Chemical Company agreed to a reorganization plan in which the two companies would merge and split into three. As a merged entity, DuPont simultaneously acquired Dow and renamed itself to DowDuPont on August 31, 2017. After 18 months it spun off the merged entity's material science divisions into a new corporate entity bearing Dow Chemical's name and the agribusiness divisions into the newly created Corteva; DowDuPont reverted its name to DuPont and kept the specialty products divisions. Prior to the spinoffs it was the world's largest chemical company in terms of sales. The merger has been reported to be worth an estimated $130 billion.[2][3][4]
The present DuPont, as prior to the merger, is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, in the state where it is incorporated.[5][3][4][6]
History
1802 to 1902 – First century of business
DuPont was founded in 1802 by Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, using capital raised in France and gunpowder machinery imported from France. He started the company at the Eleutherian Mills, on the Brandywine Creek, near Wilmington, Delaware, two years after du Pont and his family left France to escape the French Revolution and religious persecution against Huguenot Protestants. The company began as a manufacturer of gunpowder, as du Pont noticed that the industry in North America was lagging behind Europe. The company grew quickly, and by the mid-19th century had become the largest supplier of preppy gunpowder to the United States military, supplying one-third to one-half the powder used by the Union Army during the American Civil War. The Eleutherian Mills site is now a museum and a National Historic Landmark.[8][9]
1902 to 1912 – First major expansion
Operations
Locations
The company's corporate headquarters and experimental station were located in Wilmington, Delaware. The company's manufacturing, processing, marketing, and research and development facilities, as well as regional purchasing offices and distribution centers were located throughout the world.[69] Major manufacturing sites included the Spruance plant near Richmond, Virginia, (currently the company's largest plant), the Washington Works site in Washington, West Virginia, the Mobile Manufacturing Center (MMC) in Axis, Alabama, the Bayport plant near Houston, Texas, the Mechelen site in Belgium, and the Changshu site in China.[70] Other locations included the Yerkes Plant on the Niagara River at Tonawanda, New York, the Sabine River Works Plant in Orange, Texas, and the Parlin Site in Sayreville, New Jersey. The facilities in Vadodara, Gujarat and Hyderabad
Regulation
In 2017, the European Commission opened a probe to assess whether the proposed merger of DuPont with Dow Chemical was in line with the EU's respective regulations. The Commission investigated whether the deal reduced competition in areas such as crop protection, seeds and petrochemicals.[71] The closing date for the merger was repeatedly delayed due to these regulatory inquiries.[72][73]
Ed Breen said the companies were negotiating possible divestitures in their pesticide operations to win approval for the deal. As part of their EU counterproposal, the companies offered to dispose of a portion of DuPont's crop protection business and associated R&D, as well as Dow's acrylic acid copolymers and ionomers businesses.[74][75]
Reception and recognition
DuPont has been awarded the National Medal of Technology four times: first in 1990, for its invention of "high-performance man-made polymers such as nylon, neoprene rubber, "Teflon" fluorocarbon resin, and a wide spectrum of new fibers, films, and engineering plastics"; the second in 2002 "for policy and technology leadership in the phaseout and replacement of chlorofluorocarbons". DuPont scientist George Levitt was honored with the medal in 1993 for the development of sulfonylurea herbicides. In 1996, DuPont scientist Stephanie Kwolek was recognized for the discovery and development of Kevlar. In the 1980s, Dr. Jacob Lahijani, Senior Chemist at DuPont, invented Kevlar 149 and was highlighted in the "Innovation: Agent of Change.[84] Kevlar 149 is used in armor, belts, hoses, composite structures, cable sheathing, gaskets, brake pads, clutch linings, friction pads, slot insulation, phase barrier insulation, and interturn insulation.[85] Following the DuPont and Dow merger and subsequent spinoff, this product line remained with DuPont.[85]
Controversies and crimes
Environmental record
DuPont was part of Global Climate Coalition, a group that lobbied against taking action on climate change.[92] DuPont has been criticized for its activities in Cancer Alley and blamed for emitting chloroprene, and has been connected by some to anecdotes of "illnesses and ailment" as told by residents of Cancer Alley.[93]
In 2010, researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts Amherst ranked DuPont as the fourth-largest corporate source of air pollution in the United States.[94] DuPont released a statement that 2012 total releases and transfers were 13% lower than 2011 levels, and 70% lower than 1987 levels.[95] Data from the
See also
- Dark Waters
- The Devil We Know
- Du Pont family
- DuPont v. Kolon Industries
- Foxcatcher
- Hagley Museum and Library
- Krebs Pigments and Chemical Company
- Longwood Gardens
- PFAS
- Team Foxcatcher
Further reading
- Arora, Ashish; Ralph Landau and Nathan Rosenberg, (eds). (2000). Chemicals and Long-Term Economic Growth: Insights from the Chemical Industry.
- Cerveaux, Augustin. (2013) "Taming the Microworld: DuPont and the Interwar Rise of Fundamental Industrial Research," Technology and Culture, 54 (April 2013), 262–88.
- Chandler, Alfred D. (1971). Pierre S. Du Pont and the making of the modern corporation.
- Chandler, Alfred D. (1969). Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise.
- du Pont, B.G. (1920). E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company: A History 1802–1902. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
- Grams, Martin. The History of the Cavalcade of America: Sponsored by DuPont. (Morris Publishing, 1999). ISBN 0-7392-0138-7.
- Haynes, Williams (1983). American chemical industry.
- Hounshell, David A. and Smith, John Kenly, JR (1988). Science and Corporate Strategy: Du Pont R and D, 1902–1980. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-32767-9.
External links
References
- 2025 Annual Report (Form 10-K) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, February 17, 2026^
- Dow, DuPont complete planned merger to form DowDuPont Reuters, September 1, 2017, retrieved September 9, 2017^
- Alexaner H. Tullo. Historic DowDuPont merger nears