GM Buys Cadillac For $4.5M 113 Years Ago Today: What Happened Since?

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Each day, Benzinga takes a look back at a notable market-related moment that occurred on this date.

What Happened? On this day in 1909, General Motors Company GM acquired Cadillac Automobile Company for $4.5 million.

Where The Market Was: The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded at around 100.

What Else Was Going On In The World? In 1909, Abraham Lincoln was added to the face of the U.S. penny. U.S. President William Howard Taft announced the construction of a naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii to defend against Japanese expansion in the Pacific. The average U.S. life expectancy for men was 50.5 years.

GM Lands Cadillac: Cadillac was founded in 1902 after Henry Ford and several of his partners left the Henry Ford Company due to a dispute with investors. Ford went on to launch the highly successful Ford Motor Company F, but the assets of the Henry Ford Company were used to form Cadillac Automobile Company in 1902.

Detroit machinist Henry Leland combined Ford’s frame with Oldsmobile’s single-cylinder engine and unveiled the first Cadillac at the New York Auto Show in 1903. The car was priced at $850 and sold 2,500 units in its first year of production.

In 1909, GM founder William Durant paid $4.5 million to add Cadillac to GM’s cornerstone brands of Oldsmobile and Buick.

In 2018, GM sold 154,702 Cadillac vehicles in North America.

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Posted In: EducationTop StoriesGeneralCadillacHenry Fordthis day in market history
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