United States Steel Internacional Inc. Profile

United States Steel Internacional Inc. Profile

International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 50. St. James Press, 2003.

PT BUILDS

1901-present, USA

600 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219 USA.

1901-03-02

John Pierpont Morgan Sr.

“United States Steel” was founded on March 2, 1901 by John Pierpont Morgan Sr. The company resulted from the merger of about ten companies, including “Carnegie Steel Company”, “Federal Steel Company” and “National Steel Company”. For much of the 20th century, it was the largest steelmaking company in the world. It was also the world's first billionaire company. Initially, the company was headquartered in the “Empire Building”, in New York, moving, years later, to Pittsburgh. The company's success was immediately due to the purchase of its largest competitor, the “Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company” in 1907. A few years later, in 1911, the company was the target of a break-up attempt by the federal government, since United States Steel alone was a threat to the competitive market. However, this attempt failed.

The company grew exponentially in its early years. During World War II, United States Steel was the sixteenth largest producer in the United States. During this period, more specifically in 1943, the company employed 340 thousand employees. A new attempt to control the company's mass production was carried out in 1952, this time by President Truman. The Supreme Court ruled again in favour of the private sector, again acclaiming that the president and the state had no constitutional power to do so. For his part, President Kennedy was more fortunate when he pressed the steel industry's price increases, reaching extremely inflated values.

During the seventies, the company went through a period of crisis, having closed about 13 industrial units. However, in the 1980s, United States Steel began investing in the oil and natural gas industry, buying the “Marathon Oil Company”, which again gave it new economic freedom. In 1992 the company, which was already called United States Steel, Inc., was restructured, changing its name to US Steel USX, separating it in “USX - US Steel Group” and “USX - Marathon Group”. However, in 2002 the group split up again, leaving United States Steel Corporation and Marathon Oil again as independent companies.