Sherwin-Williams

Sherwin-Williams is an American paints and coatings company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is primarily engaged in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings, floor coverings, and related products with operations in over 120 countries.[2] As of 2024, it is the largest coatings company in the world by revenue.[3]

History

Sherwin-Williams dates from 1866, when Cleveland bookkeeper Henry Sherwin invested in Truman Dunham & Co., a paint distributorship.[4] After the partnership dissolved in 1870, he formed Sherwin, Williams, & Co. with Edward Williams and A.T. Osborn.[4][5] For its first factory, in 1873 the company acquired a cooperage

Controversies

founders	Henry Sherwin Edward Williams

hq location	1426 West 3rd Street

hq location city	Cleveland, Ohio

hq location country	United States

income year	2025

industry	Chemicals

key people	John G. Morikis (Retired, Executive Chairman) Heidi G. Petz (Chair, President and CEO) Ben E. Meisenzahl (SVP and CFO)

net income	US$2.57billion

net income year	2025

num employees	64,249

num employees year	2025

num locations	4,853 stores

num locations year	2025

operating income	US$3.81billion

products	Caulks Chemicals Coatings Decorative paints Industrial finishing products Sealants Stains

revenue	US$23.6billion

revenue year	2025

subsid	Valspar

traded as	nyse: SHW DJIA component S&P 500 component

type	Public

website	sherwin-williams.com

Advertising

A billboard near the center-field fence of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California featured a giant paint can. In 2014, the owner of the billboard offered to donate $1 million to the Angels Baseball Foundation if a home run ball landed in the can on the fly, though the requirement the ball land on the fly was not noted on the billboard as the billboard simply stated “Angels home run in the can $1,000,000”.[36] On September 19, 2017, a home run ball landed in the can after bouncing. Some commentators were upset that a donation wasn't made "due to a lame technicality", causing a public relations embarrassment.[37][38]

In November 2020, the company fired employee Tony Piloseno, who'd amassed over 1.4 million viewers on his TikTok paint mixing channel, Tonesterpaints, for alleged misconduct. The company was criticized for their perceived mishandling of the situation with critics believing the company failed to realize the marketing opportunity they'd just lost.[39] Piloseno received multiple offers of employment from Sherwin-Williams' industry rivals and took up a position with Florida Paints where he will have his own art studio and develop his own custom range of paints.[40][41][42] Commentators pointed out the differing reaction the company had after going viral when compared to other companies such as Ocean Spray, who had positively reacted to going viral on the TikTok platform.[43]

Lead paint

In January 2014, the Santa Clara County Superior Court ruled that Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and ConAgra were jointly and severally liable for $1.15 billion, to be paid into a lead paint abatement fund to be used to remove lead paint from older housing.[44][45] The judge ruled that the paint companies manufactured, marketed, and sold lead paint without disclosing the health risks to the consumers in spite of "actual and constructive knowledge that it was harmful".[46][47] In March 2014 Sherwin-Williams was denied a new trial.[48] In July 2019, a $305 million settlement was reached.[49]

Pollution

On April 9, 2018, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and representing attorneys uncovered that Sherwin-Williams tried to "shift the blame to contaminated water in an effort" to avoid having to pay tens of millions of dollars in settlements. Almost 170 children had been affected by the potentially fatal lead poisoning.[54][55]

In December 2019, Sherwin-Williams was sued by New Jersey for discharging industrial waste from three sites and failing to disclose the pollution to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.[56]

Underpayment

In May 2020, Sherwin-Williams agreed to pay $3.6M to settle a lawsuit brought by workers in California alleging underpayment of wages and failure to provide obligatory meal or rest breaks.[57][58]

Water-based paint

Starting in 2008, businessman John Tyczki entered into an agreement with Sherwin-Williams on the basis of assurances provided by Sherwin-Williams about its water-based paint products. When the products failed to live up to these assurances, causing ongoing problems for his business, Tyczki sued Sherwin-Williams and was awarded $2.88M.[59]

founded
area served	Worldwide
assets	US$25.9billion
assets year	2025
brands	* Cabot * Cisco * Duckback * Dupli-Color * Dutch Boy * Geocel * Huarun * Krylon * Minwax * North American Grocery Co * Pratt & Lambert * Purdy * Ronseal * Solver * Sysco * Thompson's WaterSeal * Valspar * White Lightning
divisions	Paint Stores Group Consumer Brands Group Performance Coatings Group
equity	US$4.60billion
equity year	2025
footnotes	‡R1R‡

History

Global headquarters

Notable innovations

Other acquisitions

Corporate structure

Paint Stores Group

Consumer Brands Group

Performance Coatings Group

Controversies

Advertising

Lead paint

Pollution

Underpayment

Water-based paint

Awards and recognition

See also

Further reading

External links

References