Harvey Firestone American entrepreneur, industrialist Date of Birth: 20.12.1868 Country: USA

Harvey Firestone: American Entrepreneur and Industrialist

Harvey Firestone was an American entrepreneur and industrialist, best known as the founder of the 'Firestone Tire and Rubber Company' – one of the first truly large-scale automobile tire manufacturers. He was born in Columbiana, Ohio. After attending local schools for a short period, Firestone briefly attended a business college in Cleveland, Ohio. He later became an accountant at a local coal company and then moved on to work as a sales specialist at the Columbus Buggy Company.

Unfortunately, the Columbus Buggy Company collapsed in 1895, leaving Firestone unemployed. However, he did not waste his time and decided to dedicate his free time to pursue a long-held idea. Firestone believed that replacing the steel-rimmed wheels commonly used at the time with rubber tires would greatly enhance the comfort of driving. Implementing his idea was not easy, as his company, the 'Firestone Rubber Tire Company', initially had only one employee.

Nevertheless, the product was released and instantly appreciated. Within four years of starting his entrepreneurial venture, Firestone was able to sell his creation for a considerable sum of $45,000. On November 20, 1895, Firestone married Idabelle Smith, and they had seven children. In 1900, Firestone relocated to Akron, Ohio, where he established the 'Firestone Tire and Rubber Company'.

At the time, few could have predicted the consequences of Firestone's move to Akron. However, nowadays, the city is rightfully considered the "rubber capital" of the world, largely thanks to Firestone. On his new premises, Firestone continued tire production using a slightly different approach. His company focused solely on tire manufacturing, outsourcing the rubber production to external suppliers. In the first year of operation, the new company brought Firestone over $100,000 in income.

In 1903, the company expanded into rubber production, and a year later, they mastered the production of inflatable automobile tires. In 1905, Henry Ford himself placed an order for a batch of Firestone tires, prompting Firestone to rapidly increase his workforce. The following year, the 'Firestone Tire and Rubber Company' produced over 28,000 tires and earned over a million dollars from their sales.

Firestone continued to hold the position of company president until 1932 when he transitioned to the role of chairman of the board of directors. On February 7, 1938, Harvey Firestone passed away at the age of 69. His legacy, however, lives on to this day. Numerous places bear his name, and he is often mentioned in the same breath as Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. Interestingly, Firestone had a close relationship with both Edison and Ford, collaborating actively and spending leisure time together. They were also members of the legendary 'Millionaires' Club'. The Firestone and Ford families eventually became connected when Firestone's granddaughter, Martha, married William Clay Ford Sr., the grandson of Henry Ford.