The Clorox Company history

An initial stock issue of 750 shares priced at $100 each was fully subscribed by the end of 1914 and provided the company with $75,000 in start-up capital.

In 1916 a less concentrated liquid bleach product--5 percent sodium hypochlorite instead of 21 percent--for household use was developed and sold in amber glass pint bottles.

Word shortly began to spread, and in 1917 the company began shipping Clorox bleach to the East Coast via the Panama Canal.

As early as 1919, Clorox® liquid bleach began to win fans in faraway places.

1922 Firm is reincorporated as Clorox Chemical Corporation.

On May 28, 1928, the company went public on the San Francisco stock exchange and changed its name to Clorox Chemical Company.

Butch, an animated Clorox liquid bleach bottle, was used in its advertising and became well known, even surviving the 1941 transition from rubber-stoppered bottles to screw-off caps.

In 1957, Clorox was purchased by Procter & Gamble, which renamed its new subsidiary The Clorox Company.

Amway history, profile and corporate video Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos, a pair of direct sales veterans, launched Amway in 1959.

By 1962, it replaces the amber glass container with the aluminum cap.

Even though Procter & Gamble allowed Clorox to handle its own affairs, in 1967 the United States Supreme Court upheld the commission's order that Procter & Gamble divest itself of the Clorox operation.

After 10 years of litigation, on January 2, 1969, The Clorox Company regained full formal autonomy as a publicly held corporation.

In 1970 it introduced Clorox 2 all-fabric bleach.

In 1971 Clorox purchased McFadden Industries, makers of Litter Green cat litter.

Following this string of acquisitions was a growing stream of new products from the company's new Technical Center, which opened in 1973.

Linked since 1974, the two companies had developed certain technologies together but had never actually jointly produced any commercial products.

In 1975 a civil antitrust suit brought against both Clorox and Procter & Gamble by Purex Corporation, a competitor in the bleach market, came to trial.

Conceding that Shetterly’s growth plan had failed, Clorox sold its Martin-Brower subsidiary at a loss in 1979 to Dalgety PLC—a U.K. company—and Country Kitchen Foods—its British mushroom canning operation—to H.J. Heinz Company, Ltd., the U.K. subsidiary of the United States company.

Shetterly retired as chief executive officer in 1980 and was succeeded by Calvin Hatch, another former Procter & Gamble executive.

In 1981 Clorox acquired Comerco, a Tacoma, Washington-based producer of stains and wood preservatives marketed under the Olympic brand.

Purex admitted defeat in 1982, when the Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

Starting in 1987, Clorox targeted a new set of companies to purchase in an effort to enter the bottled water industry.

In 1988 the company introduced its Clorox Super Detergent brand of laundry soap powder in four western states and was quickly attacked by Procter & Gamble's new Tide With Bleach brand.

In an attempt to inject new life into its consumer products business, the company acquired the Pine Sol cleaner and Combat insecticide lines of American Cyanamid Company in 1990.

After spending more than $225 million over three years developing and marketing its detergent, and having thereupon achieved only a three percent market share, Clorox in May 1991 abandoned this aggressive but misguided venture.

Craig Sullivan became the CEO of Clorox in 1992.

All three were soon divested: Prince Castle was sold in June 1993; the following month, the bottled water business was sold; and in September 1993 Clorox sold Moore's and Domani to Ore-Ida Foods, a division of H.J. Heinz Co.

In January 1994 the company acquired the S.O.S. brand of cleaning products from Miles Inc. for $116.5 million.

Meanwhile, notable new product successes included Floral Fresh Clorox, introduced in October 1995, and Lemon Fresh Pine-Sol, which debuted in February 1995 and was formulated after a survey discovered that many consumers did not like the smell of pine.

And in December 1996 the company spent $360.1 million to acquire Armor All Products Corporation and its leading line of automotive cleaning products.

Net earnings were on the rise as well, with another 1997 record of $249.4 million.

In its home town of Oakland, California, Clorox announced that the company was sponsoring the East Bay Habitat for Humanity's 1998 Build-A-Thon on June 27, 1998.

In 1999, Clorox acquired First Brands, the former consumer products division of Union Carbide, in the largest transaction in its history.

Sullivan created an international team to tackle overseas markets and set an ambitious goal of deriving a full 20 percent of sales from these markets by 2000.

In 2002, Clorox entered into a joint venture with Procter & Gamble to create food and trash bags, food wraps, and containers under the names Glad, GladWare and related trademarks.

Another significant development during this period occurred in November 2004 when Clorox's relationship with Henkel came to an end.

Late in 2005, with soaring energy prices driving up the costs of raw materials, transportation, and utilities, Clorox announced plans to raise prices on 40 percent of its products.

In 2007, the company acquired Burt's Bees.

In 2008, The Clorox Company became the first major consumer packaged goods company to develop and nationally launch a green cleaning line, Green Works, into the mainstream cleaning aisle.

In 2010, Clorox shed businesses that were no longer a good strategic fit for the company, announcing that it was selling the Armor All and STP brands to Avista Capital Partners.

The company's annual report for the fiscal year ending in June 2011 shared data on financial performance as well as advances in environmental, social and governance performance.

We’ve showcased some of our historical milestones, both great and small, to help you see how our company — which celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2013 — continues to touch people every day.”

Operating income in 2018 was US$1.1 billion.

In 2019, Clorox ranked 7th in Barron's "100 Most Sustainable United States Companies" list.

Clorox achieves a majority of its 2020 Sustainability goals two years early.