DuPont
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, M5 fiber, Nomex, Tyvek, Sorona, 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.
This article is about the chemical company. For other uses, see Dupont (disambiguation).Company type
US26614N1028
- July 1802 (as E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company)
- September 1, 2017 (as DowDuPont)
- June 1, 2019 (as DuPont de Nemours Inc.)
Global
Edward D. Breen (executive chairman & CEO)
US$12.1 billion (2023)
US$747 million (2023)
US$462 million (2023)
US$38.6 billion (2023)
US$24.3 billion (2023)
c. 24,000 (2023)
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, and after 18 months spun off the merged entity's material science divisions into a new corporate entity bearing Dow Chemical's name and 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][7]
Company type
NYSE: DD
July 1802
August 31, 2017
Merged with Dow Chemical to form DowDuPont, which later split into three companies
Dow Chemical (Materials)
DuPont (Specialty products)
Corteva (Agricultural products)
90 countries[8]
13,020,000,000 ±10000000 United States dollar (2022) 
2,652,000,000 ±1000000 United States dollar (2021)
5,868,000,000 United States dollar (2022)
45,707,000,000 ±1000000 United States dollar (2021)
98,000 (2020)
- DuPont Chemical & Energy Operations
- DuPont Pioneer
- Danisco
- Solae
- DuPont Danisco
Regulation[edit]
The European Commission opened a probe to assess whether the proposed merger 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.[61] The closing date for the merger was repeatedly delayed due to these regulatory inquiries.[62][63]
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.[64][65]
The remedy submission in turn delayed the commission's review deadline to April 4, 2017. The intended spins of the company businesses were expected to occur about 18 months after closing.[65] According to the Financial Times, the merger was "on track for approval in March" 2017.[66] Dow Chemical and DuPont postponed the planned deadline during late March, as they struck an $1.6 billion asset swap with FMC Corporation in order to win the antitrust clearances. DuPont acquired the corporation's health and nutrition business, while selling its herbicide and insecticide properties.[67][68]
The European Commission conditionally approved the merger as of April, 2017, although the decision was said to consist of over a thousand pages and was expected to take several months to be released publicly. As part of the approval, Dow must also sell off two acrylic acid co-polymers manufacturing facilities in Spain and the US. China conditionally cleared the merger in May, 2017.[69][68][70]
According to former United States Secretary of Agriculture during the Clinton administration, Dan Glickman, and former Governor of Nebraska, Mike Johanns, by creating a single, independent, U.S.-based and - owned pure agriculture company, Dow and DuPont would be able to compete against their still larger global peers.[71] The merger was not opposed by competition authorities around the world due to the view that it did not have noticeable impact on the global seed markets.[72]
On the other hand, if Monsanto and Bayer, the 1st and 3rd largest biotech and seed firms, together with Dow and DuPont being the 4th and 5th largest biotechnology and seed companies in the world respectively, both went through with the mergers, the so-called "Big Six" (including Syngenta and BASF[73]) in the industry would control 63 percent of the global seed market and 76 percent of the global agriculture chemical market. They would also control 95 percent of corn, soybeans, and cotton traits in the US. Both duopolies would become the "big two" industry dominators.
Reception and recognition[edit]
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.[74] 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.[75] Following the DuPont and Dow merger and subsequent spinoff, this product line remained with DuPont.[75]
On the company's 200th anniversary in 2002, it was presented with the Honor Award by the National Building Museum in recognition of DuPont's "products that directly influence the construction and design process in the building industry."[76]
Controversies[edit]
Environmental record[edit]
DuPont was part of Global Climate Coalition, a group that lobbied against taking action on climate change.[77] DuPont is additionally a company which has been criticized and called out for its activities in Cancer Alley, and while not as vocally criticized as ExxonMobil when it comes to its activities in Cancer Alley, DuPont has been blamed for emitting chloroprene and has been connected by some to anecdotes of "illnesses and ailmen" as told by residents of Cancer Alley.[78]
In 1999, attorney Robert Bilott filed a lawsuit against DuPont, alleging chemical waste (perfluorooctanoic acid) fouled the property of a cattle rancher in Parkersburg, West Virginia. A subsequent lawsuit in 2004 alleged DuPont's actions led to widespread water contamination in West Virginia and Ohio which contributed to high rates of cancers and other health problems. Most of the over 3,000 lawsuits were ultimately settled for over $700 million,[79] and DuPont paid $16.5 million in fines to the Environmental Protection Agency.[80] Bilott's cases were featured in several newspapers and a book, and were adapted in the 2019 film Dark Waters.
In 2005, BusinessWeek magazine, in conjunction with the Climate Group, ranked DuPont as the best-practice leader in cutting their carbon gas emissions. DuPont reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 65 percent from the 1990 levels while using 7 percent less energy and producing 30 percent more product.[81][82]
In May 2007 the $2.1 million DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Harbor Reserve, a wildlife observatory and interpretive center on the Delaware Bay near Milford, Delaware was opened to enhance the beauty and integrity of the Delaware Estuary. The facility will be state-owned and operated by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC).[83][84]
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.[85] DuPont released a statement that 2012 total releases and transfers were 13% lower than 2011 levels, and 70% lower than 1987 levels.[86] Data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Toxic Release Inventory database included in the Political Economy Research Institute studies likewise show a reduction in DuPont's emissions from 12.4 million pounds of air releases and 22.4 million pounds of toxic incinerator transfers in 2006[87] to 10.94 million pounds and 22.0 million pounds, respectively, in 2010. Over the same period, the Political Economy Research Institutes Toxic score for DuPont increased from 122,426 to 7,086,303.[88]
One of DuPont's facilities was listed No. 4 on the Mother Jones top 20 polluters of 2010, legally discharging over 5,000,000 pounds (2,300,000 kg) of toxic chemicals into New Jersey and Delaware waterways.[89] In 2016, Carneys Point Township, New Jersey, where the facility is located, initiated a $1.1 billion lawsuit against the corporation, accusing it of divesting an unprofitable company without first remediating the property as required by law.[90]
In 2012 DuPont was named to the Carbon Disclosure Project Global 500 Leadership Index. Inclusion is based on company performance on sustainability metrics, emissions reduction goals, and environmental performance transparency.[91] In 2014 DuPont was the top scoring company in the chemical sector according to CDP, with a score of "A" or "B" in every evaluation area except for supply chain management.[92]
Between 2007 and 2014 there were thirty-four accidents resulting in toxic releases at DuPont plants across the U.S., with a total of 8 fatalities.[93] Four employees died of suffocation in a Houston, Texas, accident involving leakage of nearly 24,000 pounds (11,000 kg) of methyl mercaptan.[94] As a result, the company became the largest of the 450 businesses placed into the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's "severe violator program" in July 2015. The program was established for companies OSHA says have repeatedly failed to address safety infractions.[95][96]
Since the 2017 spin-off, the company has adapted its marketing and branding in order to establish a new identity that is "fundamentally different" from DowDuPont. The company published a list of sustainability commitments to be achieved by 2030 in November 2019.[97] DuPont was fined over $3 million for environmental violations in 2018.[98] In 2019, DuPont led the Toxic 100 Water Polluters Index.[99]
