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Monsanto history
Monsanto company history timeline
The agricultural products business was incorporated as a Monsanto Company subsidiary in February 2000 named the Monsanto Ag Company.
The merger became effective on March 31, 2000.
Monsanto sold its sweeteners businesses, including NutraSweet, in 2000.
The company also devoted ongoing research and development to Sweetener 2000, a high-intensity product.
In 2001, Knowles and Ryōji Noyori won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
In 2002, Monsanto was again spun off into an independent company, just prior to Pharmacia´s acquisition by Pfizer Inc.
Sales slipped 14 percent to $4.7 billion in 2002.
His position was filled for a time by Chairman Frank Atlee III. Chief Operating Officer Hugh Grant, a native of Scotland, became CEO in May 2003 and chairman in October 2003.
* 2003 - Solutia files Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Pharmacia was bought by Pfizer in 2003.)
2004 American Seeds Inc. subsidiary is formed to acquire regional seed producers.
2004: A group of Vietnamese citizens sued Monsanto and several other chemical companies who made Agent Orange.
* 2005 - Environmental, consumer groups question safety of Roundup Ready crops, say they create “super weeds,” among other problems.
In 2005, it finalized the purchase of Seminis Inc, a leading global vegetable and fruit seed company, for $1.4 billion.
Roundup Ready® Corn 2 technology is planted on more than 32 million acres – or about 40 percent of United States corn acres – during the 2006 crop season.
2006: The Public Patent Foundation attempted to invalidate four Monsanto patents.
2006: The town of Nitro, West Virginia, sued Monsanto for dioxin contamination due to the Monsanto plant located there that made Agent Orange.
In June 2007, Monsanto purchased Delta and Pine Land Company, a major cotton seed breeder, for $1.5 billion.
A look at the figures for 2007, when the world food crisis began, shows that corporations such as Monsanto and Cargill, which control the cereals market, saw their profits increase by 45 and 60 per cent, respectively.”
By 2007, Roundup was the most used herbicide in the United States—being used on farms, by homeowners, and in government and industry.
At a July 2008 meeting, Monsanto officials announced plans to raise the average price of some of the company's GM maize (corn) varieties a whopping 35 percent, by $95-100 per bag, to top $300 per bag.
In 2008, Monsanto purchased Dutch seed company De Ruiter Seeds for €546 million, and sold its POSILAC bovine somatotropin brand and related business to Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly & Co, in August for $300 million plus "additional contingent consideration".
* 2008 - Acquires sugarcane breeding companies, and a Dutch hybrid seed company.
The suit was settled in Monsanto’s favor in 2008, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office confirming all four patents’ validity.
* 2009 - Posts record net sales of $11.7 billion and net income of $2.1 billion for fiscal 2009.
A 2009 study found that an ingredient in Roundup that Monsanto claims to be “inert,” polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells than glyphosate itself.
2011: The Public Patent Foundation again brought suit, in the Southern District of New York, on behalf of 83 farming associations, including the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association.
In 2012, Monsanto purchased for $210 million Precision Planting Inc., a company that produced computer hardware and software designed to enable farmers to increase yield and productivity through more precise planting.
A 2013 study found that weeds on farms where glyphosate is used were becoming glyphosate resistant.
Monsanto purchased San Francisco-based Climate Corp for $930 million in 2013.
In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
Monsanto tried to acquire Swiss agro-biotechnology rival Syngenta for US$46.5 billion in 2015, but failed.
When Bayer announced its intention in 2016 to buy Monsanto, it was thought to be to boost agricultural research and innovation.
A 2016 study found that glyphosate had adverse effects on microbial communities in soil that could negatively affect soil functions, crop productivity, and plant health.
Mesnage, R, et al. (2017, January 9). Multiomics reveal non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats following chronic exposure to an ultra-low dose of Roundup herbicide.
In 2017, a birth cohort study in Indiana found detectable levels of glyphosate in more than 90 percent of the women tested, and the study found a correlation between the levels found and shortened pregnancy rates.
The sale closed on June 7, 2018; Bayer announced its intent to discontinue the Monsanto name, with the combined company operating solely under the Bayer brand.
That deal was finalized in 2018, and Bayer announced the company would continue on under the Bayer name.
A 2018 study found that honeybee larvae exposed to glyphosate grew more slowly and died more often.
In 2020 Bayer agreed to pay more than $10 billion to settle claims regarding Roundup.
"Monsanto Company ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/monsanto-company-0
"Monsanto Company ." Scholarships, Fellowships and Loans. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-and-education-magazines/monsanto-company
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