September 16, 1908: The Birth of General Motors
A global automotive giant was founded
On this day back in 1908 William Durant , Boss of Buick Motor Company founded the company General Motors in New Jersey. He did it by spending $2,000 to incorporate the company. Durant actually hated cars as he considered them as stinky, lound and dangerous but he created a company that dominated the American car industry for decades.
William was forced out of the company by the board two times after the company bought a lot companies. Durant went bankrupt during the Depression. His last years he was managing a bowling alley. General Motors today produces vehicles in 37 countries under twelve brands e.g. Opel / Vauxhall, Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and more.
It's crazy that after all of that, he ended up managing a bowling alley.
Also, I believe GM just recently sold Opel/Vauxhall?
Thanks for the post!
True - Peugeot - vive la France
Interestingly that $2,000 William Durant spent back in 1908 would now be roughly $52,631 in current US dollars.
Back in 1908 an ounce of gold was priced at $20.67 making $2,000 = 96.758 ounces of gold.
At today's gold prices of about $1,316 per ounce that incorporation figure expressed in gold would be a sum of $127,334.30!
And then they destroyed some of the world's best public transit systems :(
did they? Tell me more
In the sense the GM bought some of the cities' streetcar system and replaced them with a bus system for their own profits.
That is naughty by GM well they want to earn
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