William C. Durant
Encyclopedia
William Crapo "Billy" Durant (December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was a leading pioneer of the United States
automobile
industry, the founder of General Motors
and Chevrolet
who created the system of multi-brand holding companies with different lines of cars.
. William dropped out of high school to work in his grandfather's lumberyard, but by 1885 he had partnered with Josiah Dort to create the Coldwater Road Cart Company. He started out as a cigar salesman in Flint, Michigan
, and eventually moved to selling carriages. He founded the Flint Road Cart Company in 1886, eventually transforming $2,000 in start-up capital into a $2 million business with sales around the world. By 1890 the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, based in Flint, Michigan
, had become a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles, which ultimately became number one in the world. Durant also conceived the modern system of automobile dealer franchises. When approached to become General Manager of Buick
in 1904, he made a similar success and was soon president of this horseless-vehicle company. In 1908 he arranged the incorporation by proxies of General Motors and quickly thereafter sold stock, and with the proceeds acquired Oldsmobile
. The acquisitions of Oakland, Cadillac, and parts companies followed in short order.
Originally, Durant was highly skeptical of cars, thinking that they were stinky, loud, and dangerous, to a point where he would not let his daughter ride in one. By 1900, there was significant public outcry for government regulation of gas-powered horseless carriages. Durant heard this outcry, and rather than relying on government regulations to improve their safety, saw an opportunity to build a successful company by improving on the safety of these new machines. In order to accomplish this, he sought out the purchase of Buick, a local car company with few sales and large debts.
Durant and Samuel McLaughlin
of Canada signed a 15-year contract to build Buick power trains at cost plus; they were called McLaughlin Buicks until 1942. Durant went back to Detroit to start General Motors (GM) Holding Company at the suggestion of his partner McLaughlin, CEO of General Motors of Canada (founded November 20, 1907), and Durant founded General Motors Holding Company on September 16,1908 with $500,000 in shares of Buick stock that Durant traded McLaughlin for $500,000.00 of McLaughlin stock was traded by McLaughlin for General Motors stock after 1908 making McLaughlin one of General Motors biggest share holders of the day. Durant had arranged a $8,000,000.00 deal to buy Ford in 1910 when the bankers turned him down and General Motors Holding fired him.
Both Durant and rival Henry Ford
foresaw the automobile becoming a mass market item. Ford followed the course of the basic Model N, and had said "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." Durant however, drawing on his experience in the carriage business, sought to create automobiles targeted to various incomes and tastes. This brought about his plans to merge Buick with various other companies to serve this purpose. He purchased Cadillac, and in 1908 formed General Motors by consolidating thirteen car companies and ten parts-and-accessories manufacturers.
car, named after its founder, William H. Little. His initial intention was to compete with the Ford Model T
, then beginning to show its impending popularity. Unsatisfied with this approach, however, he abandoned it and went into partnership with Louis Chevrolet
in 1911, starting the Chevrolet
company. Before long, a disagreement between the two resulted in Durant buying out his partner in 1914. Durant went on to McLaughlin in 1915 to put Chevrolet in General Motors of Canada and with the shares being bought up at 5 to one and 7 to one McLaughlin and Durant with other share holders had enough stock to reclaim Durant's old job. McLaughlin had no problem with his friend back at the helm. McLaughlin went on building Chevrolet and built his Buicks in Canada without conflict to his Buick contract. General Motors Corporation was started at this time with Durant putting Dupont in charge.
Nevertheless, the venture was so successful for Durant that he was able to buy enough shares in GM to regain control, becoming its president in 1916. During his presidency from 1916–1920, Durant brought the Chevrolet product line, as well as Fisher Body and Frigidaire
into General Motors. In 1920, he finally lost control of GM to the DuPont
interests.
While in charge of Chevrolet, Durant did acquire other companies, including Republic Motors, mainly to produce Chevrolet.
, making Alfred P. Sloan
of Hyatt Roller Bearings Company the president. It was made up of Hyatt Roller Bearing, New Departure Manufacturing, Dayton Engineering Laboratories (later Delco Electronics Corporation), Harrison Radiator Corporation
, Remy Electric, Jaxon Steel Products and Penman Rim. In 1918 United Motors was sold to General Motors for $44,065,000. Sloan rose to president of GM in the 1920s, going on to build the company into the world's largest automaker.
, initially with one brand. Within two years, it had a variety of marques, including the Durant
, Star
(also called Rugby), Flint
, and Eagle, rivalling the range offered by General Motors. Part of the new empire included a factory in Leaside, Ontario for Canadian production.
As he had with General Motors, Durant acquired a range of companies whose cars were aimed at different markets. The cheapest brand was the Star, aimed at the person who would otherwise buy the obsolescent Model T, while the Durant cars were mid-market, the Princeton line (designed, prototyped, and marketed but never produced) competed with Packard
and Cadillac, and the ultra-luxurious Locomobile
was the top of the line. However, he was unable to duplicate his former success, and the financial woes of the Wall Street Crash of 1929
and the ensuing Great Depression
proved fatal as the company failed in 1933.
and on Black Tuesday joined with members of the Rockefeller family
and other financial giants to buy large quantities of stocks, against the advice of friends, in order to demonstrate to the public their confidence in the stock market
. His effort proved costly and failed to stop the market slide. By 1936, the 75-year-old Durant was bankrupt
.
After the fall of Durant Motors, Durant and his second wife lived on a small pension provided by Alfred P. Sloan
on behalf of General Motors. He suffered a stroke in 1942, which left him "a semi-invalid", and managed a bowling alley in Flint, Michigan until his death in 1947. He was buried in a private mausoleum at the Woodlawn Cemetery
in the Bronx, New York.
Durant was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1996.
Durant Park in Lansing, Michigan is named after him.
. Just before he moved in, however, the castle burned to the ground. This event was suspected to have been an act of arson, allegedly by the hands of the fledgling UAW, which Durant had refused to acknowledge as a union. Durant's Castle in Roscommon, MI. on the South Branch of the Au Sable River, was built by Billy Durant's son, Russell Clifford (Cliff) Durant and his thirdwife (1924–1932), Lea Gapsky Durant. The fifty-four room mansion burned to the ground under mysterious circumstances on February 6, 1931. The Durants never inhabited it. After Lea's mysterious disappearance in 1934, and Cliff's death in 1937, Cliff's fourth wife, Charlotte Phillips Durant, sold the land to George W. Mason
, an automotive executive. Upon his death it was bequeathed to the State of Michigan as a nature preserve; The Mason Tract. The Au Sable River in this area is considered the "Holy Grail" of fly fishing. There is a canoe landing and short history of the Castle on the site. All that remains of the Castle and private airstrip are the old foundation works.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
industry, the founder of General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
and Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
who created the system of multi-brand holding companies with different lines of cars.
Biography
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Durant was the grandson of Michigan governor Henry H. CrapoHenry H. Crapo
Henry Howland Crapo was the 14th Governor of Michigan during the end of the American Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction.-Early life in Massachusetts:...
. William dropped out of high school to work in his grandfather's lumberyard, but by 1885 he had partnered with Josiah Dort to create the Coldwater Road Cart Company. He started out as a cigar salesman in Flint, Michigan
Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
, and eventually moved to selling carriages. He founded the Flint Road Cart Company in 1886, eventually transforming $2,000 in start-up capital into a $2 million business with sales around the world. By 1890 the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, based in Flint, Michigan
Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
, had become a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles, which ultimately became number one in the world. Durant also conceived the modern system of automobile dealer franchises. When approached to become General Manager of Buick
Buick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
in 1904, he made a similar success and was soon president of this horseless-vehicle company. In 1908 he arranged the incorporation by proxies of General Motors and quickly thereafter sold stock, and with the proceeds acquired Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
. The acquisitions of Oakland, Cadillac, and parts companies followed in short order.
Originally, Durant was highly skeptical of cars, thinking that they were stinky, loud, and dangerous, to a point where he would not let his daughter ride in one. By 1900, there was significant public outcry for government regulation of gas-powered horseless carriages. Durant heard this outcry, and rather than relying on government regulations to improve their safety, saw an opportunity to build a successful company by improving on the safety of these new machines. In order to accomplish this, he sought out the purchase of Buick, a local car company with few sales and large debts.
General Motors
In 1904 Durant began realizing his vision of building the car industry, starting from virtually nothing, utilizing his sales skills to enter Buick (which had only built 37 cars to date) into a New York auto show, and returning with orders for 1,108 cars.Durant and Samuel McLaughlin
Samuel McLaughlin
Colonel Robert Samuel McLaughlin, CC, ED, CD was an influential Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He started the McLaughlin Motor Car Co...
of Canada signed a 15-year contract to build Buick power trains at cost plus; they were called McLaughlin Buicks until 1942. Durant went back to Detroit to start General Motors (GM) Holding Company at the suggestion of his partner McLaughlin, CEO of General Motors of Canada (founded November 20, 1907), and Durant founded General Motors Holding Company on September 16,1908 with $500,000 in shares of Buick stock that Durant traded McLaughlin for $500,000.00 of McLaughlin stock was traded by McLaughlin for General Motors stock after 1908 making McLaughlin one of General Motors biggest share holders of the day. Durant had arranged a $8,000,000.00 deal to buy Ford in 1910 when the bankers turned him down and General Motors Holding fired him.
Both Durant and rival Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
foresaw the automobile becoming a mass market item. Ford followed the course of the basic Model N, and had said "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." Durant however, drawing on his experience in the carriage business, sought to create automobiles targeted to various incomes and tastes. This brought about his plans to merge Buick with various other companies to serve this purpose. He purchased Cadillac, and in 1908 formed General Motors by consolidating thirteen car companies and ten parts-and-accessories manufacturers.
Chevrolet
In 1910, Durant became financially overextended and banking interests assumed control, forcing him from management of GM. He immediately set out to create another "GM," starting with the LittleLittle (automobile)
The Little was an automobile built in Flint, Michigan by the Little Motor Car Company from 1912-15. The Little first was available as a two-seater with a four-cylinder 20 hp engine, and had a wheelbase of . In 1914 a 3.6 L six-cylinder L-head engine was available in a later model that had a...
car, named after its founder, William H. Little. His initial intention was to compete with the Ford Model T
Ford Model T
The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from September 1908 to May 1927...
, then beginning to show its impending popularity. Unsatisfied with this approach, however, he abandoned it and went into partnership with Louis Chevrolet
Louis Chevrolet
Louis-Joseph Chevrolet was a Swiss-born American race car driver of French descent, co-founder of the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in 1911 and later, the Frontenac Motor Corporation in 1916 which made racing parts for Ford's Model T.-Early life:Born in 1878 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, a center of...
in 1911, starting the Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
company. Before long, a disagreement between the two resulted in Durant buying out his partner in 1914. Durant went on to McLaughlin in 1915 to put Chevrolet in General Motors of Canada and with the shares being bought up at 5 to one and 7 to one McLaughlin and Durant with other share holders had enough stock to reclaim Durant's old job. McLaughlin had no problem with his friend back at the helm. McLaughlin went on building Chevrolet and built his Buicks in Canada without conflict to his Buick contract. General Motors Corporation was started at this time with Durant putting Dupont in charge.
Nevertheless, the venture was so successful for Durant that he was able to buy enough shares in GM to regain control, becoming its president in 1916. During his presidency from 1916–1920, Durant brought the Chevrolet product line, as well as Fisher Body and Frigidaire
Frigidaire
Frigidaire is a brand of consumer and commercial appliances. Frigidaire was founded as the Guardian Frigerator Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and developed the first self-contained refrigerator in 1916. In 1918, William C...
into General Motors. In 1920, he finally lost control of GM to the DuPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
interests.
While in charge of Chevrolet, Durant did acquire other companies, including Republic Motors, mainly to produce Chevrolet.
Vertical integration
Drawing on his experience in the carriage making business twenty years earlier, Durant also assembled a collection of parts and components manufacturers into a new entity called United Motors CompanyUnited Motors Company
ACDelco is an American automotive parts company. Over its long history it has been known by various names such as United Motors Corporation, United Motors Service, United Delco, merged with AC Spark Plug and known as AC-Delco....
, making Alfred P. Sloan
Alfred P. Sloan
Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr. was an American business executive in the automotive industry. He was a long-time president, chairman, and CEO of General Motors Corporation...
of Hyatt Roller Bearings Company the president. It was made up of Hyatt Roller Bearing, New Departure Manufacturing, Dayton Engineering Laboratories (later Delco Electronics Corporation), Harrison Radiator Corporation
Harrison Radiator Corporation
Harrison Radiator Corporation was an early manufacturer of automotive radiators that became a division of General Motors in 1918. Today its business is a part of General Motors's Automotive Components Group. Based in Lockport, NY, the company was founded by Herbert C. Harrison, an inventor and...
, Remy Electric, Jaxon Steel Products and Penman Rim. In 1918 United Motors was sold to General Motors for $44,065,000. Sloan rose to president of GM in the 1920s, going on to build the company into the world's largest automaker.
Durant Motors
In 1921, Durant established a new company, Durant MotorsDurant Motors
Durant Motors Inc. was established in 1921 by former General Motors CEO William "Billy" Durant following his termination by the GM board of directors and the New York bankers that financed GM.-Corporate relationships:...
, initially with one brand. Within two years, it had a variety of marques, including the Durant
Durant (automobile)
The Durant was a make of automobile assembled by Durant Motors Corporation of New York City, New York from 1921 to 1926 and again from 1928 to 1932. Durant Motors was founded by William "Billy" Durant after he was terminated as the head of General Motors...
, Star
Star (automobile)
The Star was an automobile marque that was assembled by the Durant Motors Company between 1922 and 1928. Also known as the Star Car, Star was envisioned as a competitor against the Ford Model T...
(also called Rugby), Flint
Flint (automobile)
The Flint was an automobile marque that was assembled by the Flint Motors Division, Flint, Michigan between 1923 and 1927. Flint Motors was a wholly owned subsidiary of Durant Motors Company .-Assembly:...
, and Eagle, rivalling the range offered by General Motors. Part of the new empire included a factory in Leaside, Ontario for Canadian production.
As he had with General Motors, Durant acquired a range of companies whose cars were aimed at different markets. The cheapest brand was the Star, aimed at the person who would otherwise buy the obsolescent Model T, while the Durant cars were mid-market, the Princeton line (designed, prototyped, and marketed but never produced) competed with Packard
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
and Cadillac, and the ultra-luxurious Locomobile
Locomobile
The Locomobile Company of America was an automobile manufacturer founded in 1899. For the first two years it was located in Watertown, Massachusetts, but production was transferred to Bridgeport, Connecticut during 1900 where it remained until the company's demise in 1929...
was the top of the line. However, he was unable to duplicate his former success, and the financial woes of the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
and the ensuing Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
proved fatal as the company failed in 1933.
Wall Street and later years
In the 1920s, Durant became a major "player" on Wall StreetWall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
and on Black Tuesday joined with members of the Rockefeller family
Rockefeller family
The Rockefeller family , the Cleveland family of John D. Rockefeller and his brother William Rockefeller , is an American industrial, banking, and political family of German origin that made one of the world's largest private fortunes in the oil business during the late 19th and early 20th...
and other financial giants to buy large quantities of stocks, against the advice of friends, in order to demonstrate to the public their confidence in the stock market
Stock market
A stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
. His effort proved costly and failed to stop the market slide. By 1936, the 75-year-old Durant was bankrupt
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
.
After the fall of Durant Motors, Durant and his second wife lived on a small pension provided by Alfred P. Sloan
Alfred P. Sloan
Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr. was an American business executive in the automotive industry. He was a long-time president, chairman, and CEO of General Motors Corporation...
on behalf of General Motors. He suffered a stroke in 1942, which left him "a semi-invalid", and managed a bowling alley in Flint, Michigan until his death in 1947. He was buried in a private mausoleum at the Woodlawn Cemetery
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City and is a designated National Historic Landmark.A rural cemetery located in the Bronx, it opened in 1863, in what was then southern Westchester County, in an area that was annexed to New York City in 1874.The cemetery covers more...
in the Bronx, New York.
Durant was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1996.
Durant Park in Lansing, Michigan is named after him.
Durant's Castle
During the late 1920s Durant started construction on his own personal castle in northern Michigan, along the banks of the Au Sable RiverAu Sable River (Michigan)
The Au Sable River in Michigan runs approximately through the northern Lower Peninsula, through the towns of Grayling and Mio, and enters Lake Huron at Oscoda. It is considered one of the best brown trout fisheries east of the Rockies and has been designated a blue ribbon trout stream by the...
. Just before he moved in, however, the castle burned to the ground. This event was suspected to have been an act of arson, allegedly by the hands of the fledgling UAW, which Durant had refused to acknowledge as a union. Durant's Castle in Roscommon, MI. on the South Branch of the Au Sable River, was built by Billy Durant's son, Russell Clifford (Cliff) Durant and his thirdwife (1924–1932), Lea Gapsky Durant. The fifty-four room mansion burned to the ground under mysterious circumstances on February 6, 1931. The Durants never inhabited it. After Lea's mysterious disappearance in 1934, and Cliff's death in 1937, Cliff's fourth wife, Charlotte Phillips Durant, sold the land to George W. Mason
George W. Mason
George Walter Mason was an American industrialist. During his career Mason served as the Chairman and CEO of the Kelvinator Corporation , Chairman and CEO of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation , and Chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation .- Early life :George W. Mason was born in Valley...
, an automotive executive. Upon his death it was bequeathed to the State of Michigan as a nature preserve; The Mason Tract. The Au Sable River in this area is considered the "Holy Grail" of fly fishing. There is a canoe landing and short history of the Castle on the site. All that remains of the Castle and private airstrip are the old foundation works.