- Introduction
- Early history and growth
- Controversies, lawsuits, and bankruptcies
- A new period of growth and a three-way split
Dow, Inc.
- Introduction
- Early history and growth
- Controversies, lawsuits, and bankruptcies
- A new period of growth and a three-way split
- formerly:
- Dow Chemical Company
- Date:
- 1897 - present
- Ticker:
- DOW
- Share price:
- $43.93 (mkt close, Nov. 20, 2024)
- Market cap:
- $30.76 bil.
- Annual revenue:
- $43.18 bil.
- Earnings per share (prev. year):
- $1.5
- Sector:
- Materials
- Industry:
- Chemicals
- CEO:
- Mr. James R. Fitterling
- Headquarters:
- Midland
Dow Inc. (formerly Dow Chemical Company) is an American chemical and plastics manufacturer that is one of the world’s leading suppliers of chemicals, plastics, and sealants. Headquarters are in Midland, Michigan.
Early history and growth
Dow Chemical Company was founded in 1897 by chemist Herbert H. Dow of Midland to supplement the Midland Chemical Company (1890) and the Dow Process Company (1895). Created in part because Dow required a bleach plant to use the wastes from the bromine extraction processes performed by Midland Chemical, the new company also began extracting other chemicals such as chlorides, magnesium, and calcium from Michigan’s plentiful brine deposits.
In 1900 Dow Chemical was incorporated, combining all of Dow’s Midland properties. Although the company initially produced bromide, after 1920 it turned to the production of phenol and magnesium, initially for use in World War I munitions. (Such weapons of war would prove to be lucrative; they would also be the subject of many lawsuits and settlements.)
Over the next several decades, Dow invested heavily in research and development, which would help it expand into—and become a market leader in—agricultural chemicals, as well as the burgeoning plastics and synthetic rubber markets.
Controversies, lawsuits, and bankruptcies
Although the vast majority of Dow products are benign, a number have been the subject of adverse public attention and lawsuits:
- Mustard gas. The company made mustard gas, a toxic blistering agent used in chemical warfare, during World War I. Although it helped the Allies match Germany’s ability to conduct chemical warfare, and it showcased Dow’s ability to quickly produce munitions at the time, mustard gas would become the epitome of the devastating human and ethical costs of toxic weaponry.
- Napalm and Agent Orange. During the Vietnam War the company produced napalm, a jellied incendiary reported to have been used indiscriminately against civilians and soldiers. Dow also was one of several makers of Agent Orange, a defoliant containing the toxic substance dioxin. In 1984 Dow and the other chemical companies settled a class-action lawsuit out of court by agreeing to establish a $180 million fund for the use of veterans and the families of veterans exposed to Agent Orange.
- Silicone breast implants. In 1995 Dow Corning (a joint venture of Dow Chemical and materials manufacturer Corning, Inc.) declared bankruptcy following an overwhelming number of lawsuits claiming that silicone breast implants manufactured by Dow Corning and other companies were responsible for a variety of health problems.
Dow Corning remained under bankruptcy protection until June 2004, and the lawsuits were dismissed in 2005. Also in 2005, Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange filed suit against Dow Chemical and the Monsanto Company, an agricultural biotechnology firm that also supplied Agent Orange to the military. However, the lawsuit was later dismissed.
A new period of growth and a three-way split
Once Dow emerged from bankruptcy, it initiated a growth strategy. In 2009 Dow purchased specialty chemical manufacturer Rohm & Haas, and six years later Dow merged with former rival DuPont Company to form DowDuPont. This so-called “merger of equals” created an entity with a combined market capitalization of about $130 billion and earned it a spot in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DuPont had been a member of the Dow industrials since 1935).
The combined company would prove to be short-lived, however. In 2019 the company split into three separate, publicly held companies:
- DuPont (DD) focuses on specialty products and materials including Kevlar, Tyvek, and Corian, as well as packaging, adhesives, and water filtration.
- Corteva Agriscience (CTVA) inherited DowDuPont’s agricultural chemicals division.
- Dow, Inc. (as the parent company was renamed) includes everything not spun off into DuPont and Corteva: lubricants, plastics, polyurethanes, sealants, solvents, silicones, and other specialty materials.
Although Dow, Inc. is still one of the largest companies in the materials sector, it’s much smaller than it once was, with a market cap of approximately $34 billion—one-fourth its presplit size. In November 2024 it was removed from the DJIA, replaced by paint maker Sherwin-Williams Co. (SHW).
Dow, Inc. employs tens of thousands of people worldwide and operates manufacturing plants in 31 countries. Its products include artificial turf, materials for golf balls and other recreational equipment, adhesives, packaging products, coatings and insulation for wire and cable, building materials, and chemicals used in the pharmaceutical and automotive industries.