The first 12 Stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is an interesting thing. It’s been around for 121 years. It’s seen two world wars, several market crashes, and even more US Presidents.
It’s survived it all.
The Dow is up more than 32,000% since it was first calculated on May 26, 1896. That’s also not including dividends.
Today, the index is owned by Dow Jones & Company, which in turn is owned by News Corp.
A man named Charles Dow and his pal Edward Jones founded the Dow Jones Industrial Average. They were stock market fanatics at the time. Of the first 12 companies they picked in the original index, only General Electric is still in it today.
The Dow’s history is long and with it comes a great history lesson. A quick glimpse into its past shows the industries that were once in favor and those that fell out of favor. Two of the Dow’s first-ever components, for instance, were companies that solely manufactured leather and rubber. Today, the story could not be more different — it’s iPhones and Goldman Sachs.
The First 12 Companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
- American Tobacco Company (regulated in 1911 for antitrust concerns and split into R. J. Reynolds, Liggett & Myers, and Lorillard)
- American Cotton Oil Company (now part of Unilever)
- American Sugar Company (now Domino Foods)
- Chicago Gas Company (now a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group)
- Distilling & Cattle Feeding Company (now Millennium Chemicals)
- Laclede Gas Company (still in operation, removed from the Dow in 1899)
- National Lead Company (now NL Industries)
- North American Company (broken up by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1946)
- Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (Now apart of US Steel).
- U.S. Leather Company (disappeared in 1952)
- United States Rubber Company (now apart of Michelin)
- General Electric (still in the Dow today under the ticker $GE!)
