Overview

On July 31, 1907, an antitrust suit was filed against DuPont for restraint of trade in the explosives industry. A federal court ruled against DuPont on June 21, 1911. DuPont agreed on June 12, 1912, to divest itself of assets sufficient to create two new powder companies, Hercules and Atlas, and to turn over enough resources to ensure that they could produce 50 percent of the country’s black powder and 42 percent of its dynamite. DuPont also agreed to share its research and engineering facilities with the two companies for five years.