Johns-Manville
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Johns-Manville is an American corporation involved in manufacture of insulation and roofing materials. The stock was included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average from January 29, 1930 to August 27, 1982. It was replaced with American Express. In 2001 it was bought by Berkshire Hathaway. Since 2004, when Chairman & CEO Jerry Henry retired, Steve Hochhauser has been Chairman, President & CEO.
The company was founded as the H.W. Johns Manufacturing Company in New York in 1858, and was an early asbestos manufacturer in the United States.
The Manville Covering Company was founded in Wisconsin in 1885 by C. B. Manville. C. B. Manville's grandson was the much-married socialite Tommy Manville.
H.W. Johns and Manville merged in 1901 to form H.W. Johns-Manville, which changed to Johns-Manville in 1926.
Industrialist Lewis H. Brown was president of the Johns-Manville Corporation in the 1930s.
The Canadian branch of the corporation was involved in the extremely violent Asbestos Strike in Canada in 1949.
The corporation also faced major class-action lawsuits in the 1980s based on asbestos-related injuries, and filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1982, then the largest company in US history to do so.
[edit] Interesting Facts
The Johns-Manville Corporation is how the borough of Manville, New Jersey obtained its name, as the company had a large plant in the borough.
The company's founder, H.W. Johns, died of asbestosis in 1898.
[edit] External links
- Johns-Manville Website
- About the class action suit in the Asbestos Hazards Handbook (London Hazards Centre)
- Consumer Insulation site
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