Great American Business Leaders of the 20th Century
Charles A. Coffin
General Electric Company
1892–1913
1892–1913
General Electric Company
1892–1913
1892–1913
- Industry: Fabricated Goods
- Era: pre-1900
Coffin led General Electric into the production of other electrical products besides arc lights, including railway motors and alternating generators and transformers. In the late 1890s, Coffin was able to negotiate a patent agreement with Westinghouse Electric, which essentially created a duopoly for many electrical manufacturing products. In 1901, Coffin established a full-scale research laboratory, which contributed not only to electrical development, but also to the advancement of pure science. With Coffin at the helm, General Electric’s capitalization grew from $35 million to $184 million.