Industrialist, Financier, Automobile Pioneer. He was the co-founder of the General Motors Corporation and Chevrolet. Born in Boston. Massachusetts, he left school at age 16 to work in his grandfather's Flint, Michigan lumberyard. By 1885 he had partnered with Josiah Dallas Dort to design a two-wheeled carriage and organized the Coldwater Road Cart Company to produce it. This was a successful adventure with Durant and Dort soon becoming wealthy. By 1890, Durant-Dort Carriage Company was the nation's largest, producing approximately 50,000 horse-drawn vehicles a year. In 1904, Durant was approached by James Hubert Whiting of the Buick Company to promote his automobiles and persuaded him to join Buick as General Manager. In three short years, Buick led the United States automobile production by manufacturing 8,820 vehicles. With David Dunbar Buick leaving his company in 1906, Durant was made Buick's president and established several essential parts and accessory companies such as Weston-Mott and Champion Ignition Company. By 1908, the top four auto producers in the United States. were Buick, REO, which headed by Ransom Eli Olds; Maxwell -Briscoe, which was headed by Benjamin and Frank Briscoe; and Ford, which was headed by Henry Ford. Benjamin Briscoe wanted all four producers to merge and form one large company. Negotiations began in New York City and ended when Ford demanded cash instead of stock and pulled out of the deal, along with Reo. Still determined to start this new auto company, Durant continued without Ford and Reo. On September 16, 1908, he incorporated General Motors of New Jersey (GM) with a capital investment of $2,000. Within 12 days the company issued stocks that generated over $12,000,000 in cash. GM then purchased Buick with stock. Six weeks later, GM acquired the Olds Corporation of Lansing, Michigan, followed by the Oakland Company. Oakland was located in Pontiac, Michigan, and would later be renamed Pontiac. Finally, Durant sought to acquire Cadillac Motor Car Company from Henry Martyn Leland and his son Wilfred Chester Leland. The Lelands would only settle for cash of $4.5 million. GM could not raise this amount of money, but Buick could. Cadillac was then bought with Buick funds, thereby becoming a subsidiary of Buick. During this same period, Durant also acquired many truck and parts supply companies, including AC-Delco, which he helped form with Albert Joseph Champion and still bears his initials today. In an 18 month burst of aggressive buying, William Durant purchased a substantial interest in almost 30 auto makers. However, he eventually became financially overextended and consequently, lost control of GM to banking interests in 1910. Undeterred, Durant partnered with Louis Chevrolet to form Chevrolet Motor Company in 1911 and used the profits from Chevrolet to regain control of GM in 1915. However, Durant's aggressive management style once again proved problematic. He was forced out in 1920 by then GM president Pierre Samuel du Pont in exchange for paying off Durant's debts. Determined to regain status in the automotive world, he formed Durant Motors in 1921 and produced a line of cars bearing his name for the next 10 years until a declining market and the Great Depression ended his automotive career in 1933. From 1934 until his death, he dabbled in stocks, politics, and social issues. None of these later ventures reflected his former bold thinking and he faded from public life, dying in 1947.