| Charles Ranlett Flint | |
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| Image:Charles Flint.jpg |
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| Born | January 24 1850 Thomaston Maine, United States |
| Died | 1934 |
Charles R. Flint (1850 – 1934),was born in Thomaston Maine. He is best known as the founder of the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company which later became IBM.
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Biography
Charles Ranlett Flint was born on January 24th, 1850 in Thomaston Maine. His father Benjamin Flint was the owner of a fleet of clipper ships.
He graduated from the Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1868.
In 1871, he formed his own company in partnership, Partner Gilchrest, Flint and Co which dealt with shipping supplies. In 1872, this was merged with W.R Grace and Co.
From 1876 to 1879, he served as the Chilean consul at New York City. He also served as consul general to the United States for Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
In 1892, he merged several companies to form U. S. Rubber. In 1899 he repeated the same with Adams Chewing Gum, Chiclets, Dentyne, and Beemans to form American Chicle. He was also responsible for the formation of American Woolen in 1899.
His biggest achievement came in 1911 when he successfully merged four companies to form the CTR or Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company.[1] In 1924, the company was re-christened as International Business Machines and went on to dominate the computer industry in the USA for several decades. Flint served on the board of directors of IBM until 1930 when he retired.
Other Information
Charles Flint was an avid sportsman and loved swimming, hunting, fishing, sailing, and aviation. He helped found the Automobile Club of America.
References
- Flint, Charles Ranlett (1923). Memories of an active life: Men, and ships, and sealing wax. G.P. Putnam's Sons.
- Flint, Charles Ranlett (1892). Industrial combinations: Address by Charles R. Flint, before The Commercial Club of Providence on the evening of April 29th, 1892.
- Smart Computing® Encyclopedia: Charles Ranlett Flint
- IBM Archives: Charles R. Flint
Footnotes
- ^ IBM Archives: Frequently Asked Questions. Some accounts of the merger forming CTR state that three corporations were merged. This reference notes that only three of the four merged corporations are represented in the CTR name. That may be the reason for the differing accounts.
