Companies II

Pfizer Corporation

Contributions from Pfizer pharmacists helped the mass production of penicillin, a medicine that helped to treat wounded soldiers during WWII. Well-known Pfizer products include chapstick, advil and robitussin. Pfizer’s Feldene, an anti-inflammatory medicine, was the first product to make over $1 billion in US sales.

FedEx Corporation

Fred smith got a "C" in college for his economics paper about overnight delivery services that later became the business plan for FedEx. FedEx operates in 220 countries and delivers to every address in the US. The ground fleet for FedEx includes over 80,000 motorized vehicles for ground and freight services.

Cisco Systems Inc.

The name "Cisco" is derived from San Francisco, the famous California city close where the company was founded. In late march 2000, at the height of the "dot com bubble", cisco was the world's most valuable company. The founders, Sandy Lerner and Len Bosack, were married when the company was founded, but got divorced after the company increased in size.

News Corporation

News Corp. is the world's third largest media company after Disney and Time Warner. Some of the notable News Corp. holdings are: Fox News, Wall Street Journal, MySpace, New York Post, etc. Original an Australian, Rupert Murdoch became US citizen to satisfy the law that only US citizens can own American TV networks.

AT&T Inc.

AT&T traces its origin from southwestern bell corporation named after telephone inventor, alexander graham bell. In 2010, consumer reports named AT&T as the worst wireless provider in the country. Until early 2011, apple's iPhone were only available in AT&T wireless network.

Fiserv Inc.

Now serving many largest financial institutions in the US, Fiserv began as a provider of data processing for small banks and thrifts. In 2007, Fiserv acquired Checkfree Corporation, the industry leader in online bill pay. Fiserv has been ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the financial services industry.

Alcoa Inc.

Alcon's name comes from "the aluminum company of America" Alcoa's founder Charles Hali's discovery of smelting aluminum in 1886 is still the only process used to make aluminum worldwide. Alcoa is the world third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal.

Intl Paper

The first paper mill in the US was built by International Paper in 1869 near Hudson River. International paper is the largest producer of plastic lids and paper cups that we see in McDonald's, Wendy's, Subway, Starbucks, etc. International paper was a component of Dow Jones Industrial Average for almost 50 years until it was dropped in 2004.

General Electric

In 2010, Forbes ranked General Electric as the second largest company in the world. General Electric was originally founded by Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, and was named Edison General Electric. This company was one of the original 12 stocks to be incorporated in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the only one that still remains.

Dell

In 1985, the company produced the first computer of its own design, and sold to the public for $795. In the late 2006, Dell lost its lead in the worldwide shipping units to Hewlett Packard for the first time in many years. Dell offers a 24 hour 7 days a week customer support system, a fairly uncommon practice amongst consumer electronics.

Best Buy

Best Buy was originally named Sound of Music, and was re-named in 1983. Best Buy was named "company of the year" by Forbes Magazine in 2004. Best buy is the largest retailer of cellular phones, providing models from Verizon, AT&T, Sprint PCS, and T-Mobile.

Goodyear Tire & Rub

Goodyear Blimp first flew in 1925 and became one of the most recognizable advertising icons in America. The first Goodyear factory opened in 1898 making horseshoe pads and poker chips. Although the company was not connected to him, it was named after the vulcanized rubber inventor, Charles Goodyear.

Pacific Gas & Electric

The origins of PG&E were founded in San Francisco in 1854; the streets of the city were first lit by gas-powered lamps. When the name PG&E was incorporated, it was a consolidation of over two dozen gas and electric companies from across the state of California. In 1930, PG&E began delivering natural gas to Northern California through the largest pipeline in the world- stretching from Texas to California.