Business in five headlines

1901

J.P. Morgan completed the purchase and merger of Andrew Carnegie's steel empire with other companies to form United States Steel Corporation on March 2, 1901, capitalised at $1.4 billion — making it the world's first billion-dollar corporation. The deal shocked even Wall Street with its scale. US Steel controlled 67% of America's steel production and its creation marked the arrival of a new age of corporate capitalism.

1971

Starbucks opened its first store on 30 March 1971 at 2000 Western Avenue, near Seattle's Pike Place Market, founded by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker. The original shop sold roasted coffee beans and tea leaves rather than brewed drinks. It was not until Howard Schultz joined the company in 1982 and later bought it in 1987 that Starbucks transformed into the espresso-bar chain that spread globally.

1988

Air Miles launched in the United Kingdom in 1988, initially as a promotion by British Airways in partnership with Shell petrol stations and later supermarkets. Consumers collected points on everyday purchases redeemable for free or discounted flights. The scheme was enormously popular and helped establish the loyalty rewards model that spread across British retail over the following decade.

2001

Enron Corporation, once the seventh-largest company in the United States, filed for bankruptcy on 2 December 2001 following revelations of massive accounting fraud and systematic deception of investors. The collapse wiped out the retirement savings of thousands of Enron employees whose pension funds were invested in company stock. The scandal led directly to the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and destroyed the accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

2021

The container ship Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal on March 23, 2021, blocking one of the world's most vital shipping lanes for six days. The vessel, one of the largest container ships ever built, became lodged diagonally across the canal in high winds. The blockage disrupted global supply chains and was estimated to have held up around $9.6 billion worth of trade per day.