USG Corporation
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| Public | |
| Traded as | : USG |
| Industry | Building materials |
| Founded | 1901 |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
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Key people
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Jenny Scanlon President & CEO Matthew F. Hilzinger (EVP & CFO) Brian J. Cook (EVP & CAO) Dominic A. Dannessa (EVP, COO & CINO) |
| Products | Gypsum, Drywall, Joint compound, Ceiling tile, Ceiling grid |
| Revenue |
 US$ 3.224 billion (2012) |
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US$ 73 million (2012) |
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US$ -126 million (2012) |
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| Total assets |
US$ 3.723 billion (2012) |
| Total equity |
 US$ 6 million (2012) |
| Website | www |
USG Corporation, also known as United States Gypsum Corporation is an American company which manufactures construction materials, most notably drywall and joint compound. The company is the largest distributor of wallboard in the United States and the largest manufacturer of gypsum products in North America. It is also a major consumer of synthetic gypsum, a byproduct of flue-gas desulfurization.
Its corporate offices are located at 550 West Adams Street in Chicago, Illinois.
Together with other construction products, USG's most significant brands are:
In December 2013, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway became the largest shareholder in the company when it converted USG convertible notes it had acquired in 2008 to common stock.
In the 1890s, gypsum manufacturers perfected a method of strengthening plaster by adding a retarder, which controlled the setting time, thus creating a viable competitor to traditional lime plaster. Because gypsum was plentiful, and available at a relatively low price, and because the manufacturing process was so simple, new firms flooded and fragmented the market, placing constant downward pressure on prices.
On December 27, 1901, 30 gypsum and plaster companies merged to form the United States Gypsum Company, resulting in the creation of the first nationwide gypsum company in the United States. The new company combined the operations of 37 mining and calcining plants producing agricultural and construction plaster.
In 1909, USG purchased the Sackett Plaster Board Company, inventor of Sackett Board, which was a panel made of multiple layers of plaster and paper. By 1917, a new manufacturing process produced boards with a single layer of plaster and paper that could be joined flush along a wall with a relatively smooth surface. Originally called Adamant Panel Board, the product became known as SHEETROCK.
By the 1930s, the company's policy of diffusion of manufacturing facilities, vertical integration and product diversification allowed it to operate profitably every year during the Great Depression. The 1933 Chicago World’s Fair featured buildings made almost entirely out of SHEETROCK panels, which led to the brand's first major advertising campaign. Following the end of World War II, the residential building market boomed with the returning GIs and the emerging tract housing projects such as Levittown.
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Wikipedia