On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we take a look at one of the largest corporations in the world: DuPont. The chemicals it has invented in the past two centuries have changed the world, but it is a family and company that are rich with crime and scandal. In recent years, the films Foxcatcher and Dark Waters famously showed the underbelly of the DuPonts. From murder to pollution to government cover-ups, DuPont is where it’s at!

It all started with a wealthy family moved to America in 1800 to avoid the French Revolution. One of them (with the easiest name to pronounce, like, ever) Éleuthère Irénée du Pont realized no gunpowder companies in American could compare to Europe, so he started a gunpowder mill near Wilmington, Delaware called the Eleutherian Mills. This became the DuPont company, and within a short time, it was the main manufacturer of gunpowder and explosives for America and then the world.

The company spread to developing chemicals in the 1900s. Pierre S. du Pont even invested in the struggling auto start up called GM. He became president of the company, which led to one of many antitrust break ups of the DuPont empire. In WWII, they were vital to the war effort, and in peace time, they ushered in the golden age of chemistry. Nylon, Lycra, Mylar, Teflon, Kevlar, and many other inventions were thanks to their factories.

However, as they developed these chemicals, the ignored safety regulations, refused to give findings to the government, and covered up lethality to the communities and the workers in their plants. Most famous was the cover up of the world-wide toxin known as C8, a key ingredient in Teflon. Oh, and don’t forget about the time one of the DuPont kids started a strange wrestling cult and murdered a guy. This family and this company is a long black list of scandals and corruption…just the kind of thing we love in SK!

Visit Our Sources:

https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/john-du-pont

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du_Pont_family

https://theintercept.com/2015/08/11/dupont-chemistry-deception/

https://theintercept.com/2018/07/07/dupont-carneys-point-chambers-works-chemours/

https://www.forbes.com/profile/du-pont/#444f1e9a253b

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/company-insights/091016/top-5-companies-owned-dupont-dd.asp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuPont_(1802%E2%80%932017)

https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/john-du-pont

https://uspirg.org/blogs/blog/usp/five-things-you-should-know-about-dupont-chemical-company

https://www.delawareonline.com/story/life/2014/05/11/facts-alfred-dupont/8921791/