In The Godfather, Part II, gangster Hyman Roth says, “We’re bigger than U.S. Steel.” Well, maybe . . . but not many things are. This Pittsburgh-based company started strong and hasn’t faltered.
Then: The United States Steel Corporation officially got its start in February 1901 when 10 smaller companies (including Carnegie Steel, the American Steel and Wire Company, and the American Bridge Company) merged. The combined assets were more than $1.4 billion, making U.S. Steel the country’s first billion-dollar company and its largest steel producer.
Now: In 2008, U.S. Steel posted profits of $919 million and is still the United States’ largest steel producer.
Then: The company’s founders named it United States (or U.S.) Steel because it was a combination of those 10 major American companies.
Now: U.S. Steel became the USX Corporation in 1986 because its shareholders decided there was more to the company than just steel. (It had also become an energy producer after buying the Marathon Oil Company.) But in 2001, it went back to its original name when the steel side of the business spun off from the larger corporation and became its own publicly traded company. The energy side did the same and once again became the Marathon Oil Corporation.
Then: The peak of U.S. Steel’s employment was during World War II—in 1943, the company had more than 300,000 people on its payroll.
Now: U.S. Steel employs about 49,000 people worldwide.
Then: When U.S. Steel first consolidated in 1901, business powerhouses Elbert H. Gary (for whom the steel town of Gary, Indiana, is named) and Charles M. Schwab shared control: Schwab was president, and Gary was chairman of the board.
By 1903, however, the two proved that they couldn’t work together. Schwab resigned and went on to open Bethlehem Steel (more about that on page 122), and Gary continued at his post until he died in 1927.
Now: The company’s chairman and CEO is John P. Surma Jr., a Pittsburgh native and Penn State graduate.
Today, Penn State’s athletic teams are known for their blue and white uniforms, but in 1887, students actually voted for black and pink to be the school’s colors. After a few weeks of wearing black and pink uniforms, the athletes started noticing that the colors faded in the sun and had become blue and white. Rather than fight a losing battle with nature, the school officially changed its colors in 1890.