I love a good business biography. I picked this one up perhaps 25 years ago and it's been waiting on my shelf ever since.
I'm glad I waited, because now it adds more color to my study of the 20th century, and living in nearby Maryland (and driving through Delaware quite often) brings some context to the story.
My key takeaway: Money clearly does NOT buy happiness.
With rare exception, the story of the du Ponts centers on treachery, manipulation, family infighting, backstabbing and a general state of hatred, grudge-holding and sadness. This was one unhappy family.
Perhaps the key difference between the du Ponts and many of the other robber-baron families was their policy of intermarriage among cousins. Much like royal dynasties, the belief was that they needed to do so in order to keep their wealth (and control of the Company) in their hands.
And just like so many royal dynasties it backfired. Health problems, chronic illnesses and early deaths plagued them for 150 years.
For the most part they lived in Delaware, often in Company-owned homes, showing a disdain for the outside world. Being part of "the family" was like being part of a cult.
Their wealth was built in the black powder trade, manufacturing munitions for much of the world from the early 19th century through and including WWI. Following that war the company started large scale investments in research that led to major breakthroughs, most notably the invention of Nylon that transformed the business in the 1930s.
They employed strong-armed, monopolistic tactics until a major anti-trust case forced them to change in the early 1960s.
Anyhow, it's a case study in how NOT to run a family.
Very interesting reading.
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