1. Max McGraw was an American entrepreneur who founded McGraw-Edison and Centel.
22 Facts About Max McGraw
1. 2.
Max McGraw financed marketing of the first domestic toaster, the Toastmaster.
3.
Max McGraw was born in Clear Lake, Iowa on 1 February 1883, and grew up in Sioux City, Iowa.
4.
Max McGraw delivered newspapers and did odd jobs to save money.
5.
In 1903 Max McGraw organized the Interstate Supply Company in partnership with his father and four others, selling mill, railroad and electrical equipment.
6.
In 1907 Max McGraw founded the Interstate Electric Manufacturing Company, which manufactured magnetos, telephones and power switchboards.
7.
Max McGraw merged this company and the Interstate Supply and Manufacturing Company into the McGraw Electric Company, taking the position of President.
8.
Max McGraw bought the Central Telephone and Electric Company of St Louis, Missouri in July 1922.
9.
Max McGraw bought an electric light plant in South Dakota and acquired electric and telephone companies in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota.
10.
Max McGraw shifted its focus from power supply to telephone service, and formed the nucleus of what became the Centel Corporation.
11.
Max McGraw bought Bersted Manufacturing in 1926, and made it a division of Max McGraw Electric, keeping Al Bersted as president of the division.
12.
In 1926 Max McGraw used his private capital to buy an interest in the company.
13.
Max McGraw provided the capital needed to enter the household market in 1927, and that year acquired the company.
14.
Max McGraw sold his interests to McGraw Electric in 1929.
15.
Max McGraw used to say, "Never buy a company unless it is making money or seems about to go broke," a philosophy that served him well.
16.
In 1948 Max McGraw bought Bersted Manufacturing a second time, and made Al Bersted president.
17.
In 1956 McGraw arranged a merger with Thomas A Edison, Incorporated.
18.
Max McGraw was primarily concerned with cash flow and capital expenditure, which was controlled from head office, and otherwise gave his division heads considerable latitude.
19.
In 1959 Max McGraw named Al Bersted president of the Max McGraw-Edison Company, retaining the position of chairman of the executive committee.
20.
In 1938 Max McGraw bought 2,000 acres of land near his new plant in Elgin, Illinois and made it a protected wetland.
21.
Max McGraw died suddenly on 26 October 1964 in Utah while on a hunting trip.
22.
Max McGraw was aged 81, and was still chairman of the companies he had founded.