William C. Durant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the historian William James Durant, see Will Durant.
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.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he was the grandson of Michigan governor Henry H. Crapo. William was a high school dropout, yet had become a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles by 1890, based in Flint, Michigan. 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 (now Pontiac), Cadillac, and parts companies followed in short order.
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[edit] General Motors and Chevrolet
In 1910, Durant became financially overextended and banking interests assumed control, forcing him from management of GM. He then partnered with Louis Chevrolet in 1911 and started the Chevrolet company, and regained control of GM in 1915 in another merger, but lost it for good in 1920 to the DuPont interests.
[edit] Durant Motors
In 1921 he established a new Durant Motors company, initially with one brand but later, as he had with General Motors, acquiring 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 Ford, 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.
[edit] Wall Street
In the 1920s, Durant became a major "player" on Wall Street and on Black Tuesday joined with members of the Rockefeller family and other financial giants to buy large quantities of stocks in order to demonstrate to the public their confidence in the stock market. His effort proved costly and failed to stop the market slide.
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 managed a bowling alley in Flint, Michigan until his death.
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| Preceded by Charles W. Nash |
President General Motors 1916 – 1920 |
Succeeded by Pierre S. du Pont |
