Ashland Inc.
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| Public | |
| Traded as | : ASH S&P 400 Component |
| Industry | Manufacturing and chemical distribution |
| Founded | 1924 |
| Headquarters | Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. |
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Key people
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Chairman of the Board, William A. Wulfsohn (CEO) |
| Products | Chemicals, plastics, motor oil products, and other specialized products and services |
| Revenue |
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 $ 302 million (FY 2012)
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 $ 26 million (FY 2012)
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| Total assets |
$ 12.52 billion (FY 2012)
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| Total equity |
$ 4.029 billion (FY 2012)
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Number of employees
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15,001 (September 2012) |
| Website | www |
$ 8.206 billion (FY 2012)
Ashland Inc. is an American Fortune 500 company which operates in more than 100 countries. Headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, in the United States, the company traces its roots back to Ashland, Kentucky (for which it is named).
Ashland was founded in 1924 as Ashland Refining Company of Ashland, Kentucky, by Paul G. Blazer.
In October 1923, J. Fred Miles of the Swiss Oil Company of Lexington, Kentucky. hired Mr. Paul G. Blazer to locate, purchase and be general manager of a refinery in eastern Kentucky. Keeping in mind the transportation advantages of access to the Ohio River, a refinery built in 1916 in northeastern Kentucky, where the Big Sandy River joins the Ohio River was selected. With funds supplied by Swiss Oil, Blazer arranged to buy, at a price of $212,500, the little 1,000 barrel per day refinery of Great Eastern Refining Company which had been owned by coal operators out of Huntington, West Virginia. The venture of these coal people into oil refining had proved unprofitable and they were glad to sell their refinery, including a small towboat and oil barge.
On February 2, 1924, Blazer and three Swiss Oil executives incorporated Ashland Refining Company, with a paid in capital of $250,000. They took over the operations of the Catlettsburg Refinery which had twenty-five employees who were working seven days per week and twelve hours per day. Blazer moved from Lexington to Ashland. The only member of the Swiss Oil organization to come to Ashland with Blazer was Ashland Refining Company's first treasurer, William Waples.
Ashland's refinery operations were successful from the very first month. Wages were increased and the hours of work were reduced. After making repairs and purchasing some new equipment, the refinery soon had output of 500,000 barrels a year and sales of $1,300,000. Within a few years, Ashland Refining Company, the small subsidiary of Swiss Oil formed solely to facilitate the purchase of some eastern Kentucky oil producing properties, began showing larger earnings than the parent company. Ashland Refining Co. grew rapidly through both internal expansion and acquisitions including Union Gas and Oil Company (1925), Tri-State Refining Company (1930), and Cumberland Pipeline Company (1931).
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Wikipedia