The Gillette Company
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The Gillette Company (NYSE: G) is a company founded by King C. Gillette in 1901 as a safety razor manufacturer, which is currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. It has grown to become a leading global supplier of products under brands in addition to Gillette, including Braun, Duracell and Oral-B. Its biggest individual shareholder is Berkshire Hathaway, with 10% (as of January 2005).
Gillette as a brand is still best known for its razor blades. Gillette was the first company to create a safety razor (1901), a women's razor (Milady Décolletée, 1916) a razor dispenser (1946), Stainless Steel blades (Super Stainless, 1963), a double-blade razor (Trac II, 1971), a razor with a pivot point (Atra, 1977), a razor with a lubricating strip (Atra Plus, 1985) a razor with spring-loaded blades (Sensor, 1990), a razor with 3 blades (Mach 3, 1998), and a razor with battery power (M3Power, 2004). They also had the worlds first disposable double-blade razor (Good News!, 1976). The Trac II Plus (with lube strip), Atra, Atra Plus, Sensor, Mach 3, and M3Power are still sold in the United States, along with the Sensor Excel, which is a Sensor with microfins, and the Mach 3 Turbo, which is a Mach 3 with higher quality lubrication and additional Microfins, as well as a new grip. Mach 3 blades are fully interchangeable along the line. Sensor and Sensor Excel blades are also interchangeable.
Women's razors trace the path of the men's line. Those currently available are the Sensor and Sensor Excel for Women, and the Venus, Venus Divine, and Venus Vibrance (mirroring the Mach3, Mach3 Turbo, and M3Power).
In January 2005 Procter & Gamble proposed acquiring Gillette for an estimated $57 billion US dollars. This would create the world's largest personal care and household products company. According to the New York Times of June 5, 2005, Gillette's CEO James M. Kilts stood to make $165 million from the merger while 17,000 Gillette employees were to receive pink slips as a result of it. "That payout was so large," wrote the Times, "that Joseph F. Turley, the company's former president, and Joseph E. Mullaney, a former vice chairman of Gillette's board, deplored the merger in an open letter to Gillette's directors. 'Thousands of Gillette's employees will soon receive pink slips,' they wrote. 'Their "leader" will receive $170 million.'"
Products
- M3 Power
External links
- Company website (http://www.gillette.com/)
- Braun (http://www.Braun.com/)
- Duracell (http://www.Duracell.com/)
- Oral-B (http://www.Oralb.com/)
- History of Gillette (http://www.duchs.com/wp/2004/12/entrepreneurial-history-gillette/)de:The Gillette Company