the goodyear tire & rubber company the mid 2000s present goodyear logo type public traded as nasdaq gt s & p 500 component industry manufacturing founded august 29 1898 ; 118 years ago 1898 08 29 akron ohio u.s. founder frank seiberling headquarters akron ohio u.s. area served worldwide key people richard j. kramer chairman president and ceo products tires revenue us 18.138 billion 1 2014 operating income us 1.323 billion 1 2014 net income us 2.452 billion 1 2014 total assets us 18.109 billion 1 2014 total equity us 3.61 billion 1 2014 number of employees 67 000 1 2015 subsidiaries list of subsidiaries website goodyear.com the goodyear tire & rubber company is an american multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by frank seiberling and based in akron ohio . goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles commercial trucks light trucks motorcycles suvs race cars airplanes farm equipment and heavy earth mover machinery . the company was named after american charles goodyear inventor of vulcanized rubber . the first goodyear tires became popular because they were easily detachable and required little maintenance . citation needed goodyear is also known for the goodyear blimp . though goodyear had been manufacturing airships and balloons since the early 1900s the first goodyear advertising blimp flew in 1925 . today it is one of the most recognizable advertising icons in america . 2 the company is the most successful tire supplier in formula one history with more starts wins and constructors championships than any other tire supplier . 3 they pulled out of the sport after the 1998 season . it is the sole tire supplier for nascar series . goodyear is a former component of the dow jones industrial average . 4 the company opened a new global headquarters building in akron in 2013 . contents 1 history 1.1 early history 1898 1926 1.2 expansion 1926 1970 1.3 radial tire transition 1.4 the goldsmith affair 1986 1.5 1990 to present 1.6 timeline 2 corporate structure and leadership 2.1 board of directors 2.2 subsidiaries 3 corporate issues 3.1 foreign relations with indonesia in the 1960 s 3.2 sexual discrimination lawsuits 3.3 environmental record 3.4 foreign corrupt practices act charges 4 goodyear products 4.1 automotive 4.2 commercial 4.3 non tire industrial licensed products produced by veyance technologies 5 manufacturing and development facilities 6 see also 7 references 8 further reading 9 external links history edit goodyear factory buildings and former headquarters complex early history 1898 1926 edit the first goodyear factory opened in akron ohio in 1898 . the thirteen original employees manufactured bicycle and carriage tires rubber horseshoe pads and poker chips . the company grew with the advent of the automobile . in 1901 frank seiberling provided henry ford with racing tires . in 1903 paul weeks litchfield was granted a patent for the first tubeless automobile tire . by 1908 ford was outfitting his model t with goodyear tires . in 1909 goodyear manufactured its first aircraft tire . 5 in 1911 goodyear started experimenting with airship design . it later manufactured airships and observation balloons for the united states army air service during world war i. the transport and reconnaissance capabilities that goodyear provided contributed significantly to the allied victory . in 1916 litchfield found land in the phoenix area suitable for growing long staple cotton needed for reinforcing rubber in tires . the 36 000 acres purchased were controlled by the southwest cotton company formed with litchfield as president . this included land that would develop into the towns of goodyear and litchfield park . in 1924 litchfield as goodyear vice president forged a joint venture with the german luftschiffbau zeppelin company to form the goodyear zeppelin corporation . by 1926 goodyear was the largest rubber company in the world . only four years earlier it was forced to temporarily halt production of racing tires due to heavy competition . nevertheless the popularity of the goodyear tire on the racing circuit led to a popular demand for the return of the brand . expansion 1926 1970 edit paul litchfield inventor of the tubeless car tire who promoted the zeppelin partnership and later became goodyear president and board chairman . on august 5 1927 goodyear had its initial public offering and was listed on the new york stock exchange . 6 by 1930 goodyear had pioneered what would later become known as tundra tires for smaller aircraft their so called low inflation pressure airwheel aviation wheel rim tire sets were initially available in sizes up to 46 inches 117 cm in diameter . 7 for the next sixty years goodyear grew to become a multinational corporation with multibillion dollar earnings . it acquired their rival kelly springfield tire in 1935 . during world war ii goodyear manufactured f4u corsair fighter planes for the u.s. military . goodyear ranked 30th among united states corporations in the value of wartime production contracts . 8 wwii forced the dissolution of the goodyear zeppelin partnership in december 1940 . by 1956 they owned and operated a nuclear processing plant in ohio . in 1944 goodyear created a subsidiary in mexico in a joint venture with compa a hulera s.a. de c.v. compa a hulera goodyear oxo s.a. de c.v. or goodyear oxo . radial tire transition edit of the five biggest u.s. tire firms in 1970 today only goodyear remains independent due to the challenge posed by radial tire technology and the varied responses . 9 at the time the entire u.s. tire industry produced the older bias ply technology . estimates to fit the factories with a new set of machinery and tools for making this new product were between 600 million and 900 million . this was a substantial amount in a low margin business with sales revenue in the low billions . 10 the u.s. market was slowly shifting towards the radial tire as had already been the case in europe and asia . in 1968 consumer reports an influential american magazine acknowledged the superiority of radial construction first developed in 1946 by michelin . 10 11 when charles j. pilliod jr. became ceo in 1974 he faced a major investment decision regarding the radial tire which today has a market share of nearly 100 % . 12 despite heavy criticism at the time pilliod invested heavily in new factories and tooling to build the radial tire . 13 sam gibara who headed goodyear from 1996 to 2003 has noted that without the action of pilliod goodyear wouldn t be around today . 13 sales for 1969 topped 3 billion five years later sales topped 5 billion and it boasted operations in thirty four countries . in 1978 the original akron plant was converted into a technical center for research and design . by 1985 worldwide sales exceeded 10 billion . goodyear aerospace a holding that developed from the goodyear aircraft company after world war ii designed a supercomputer for nasa s goddard spaceflight center in 1979 the mpp . the subsidiary was sold in 1987 to the loral corp. as a result of restructuring . in 1987 goodyear formed a business partnership with canadian tire retailer fountain tire . 14 the goldsmith affair 1986 edit in october 1986 goodyear was a victim of a greenmail attack . british financier james goldsmith in conjunction with the investment group hanson purchased 11.5 % of goodyear s outstanding common stock . 15 they threatened to take the company over . on november 20 1986 goodyear acquired all of the 12 549 400 shares of stock held by goldsmith s group at an above market price of 49.50 per share . 16 goodyear also made a tender offer for up to 40 million shares of its stock from other shareholders at 50 per share . the tender offer resulted in goodyear buying 40 435 764 shares of stock in february 1987 . as a result goodyear took a charge of 224.6 million associated with a massive restructuring plan . the company closed plants in cumberland maryland ; new toronto ontario canada ; and windsor vermont . it sold its goodyear aerospace business to loral corporation for 588 million and its motor wheel business to mwc inc. for 175 million . two subsidiaries involved in agricultural products real estate development and a resort hotel in arizona were sold for 220.1 million . 1990 to present edit the last major restructuring of the company took place in 1991 . goodyear hired stanley gault former cfo of rubbermaid to expand the company into new markets . the moves resulted in 12 000 employees being laid off . in 2005 titan tire purchased the farm tire business of goodyear and continues manufacturing goodyear agricultural tires under license . this acquisition included the plant in freeport illinois . 17 on july 10 2008 goodyear was recognized as one of america s most respected companies by the reputation institute ri and forbes magazine . goodyear ranked 16th on the magazine s third annual listing of companies with the best reputations in the united states . 18 the list is based on the results ri s global pulse consumer opinion survey which measures the overall respect trust esteem admiration and good feelings consumers hold toward the world s largest companies . 19 scores are based on ri s seven dimensions of reputation products services innovation workplace citizenship governance leadership and performance . ri said the 2008 survey indicates that consumers are most influenced by a company s high quality products and services as well as its governance and citizenship . goodyear s score of 76.0 represented a 7.54 point increase over 2007 and was the largest year over year improvement of any company on the list . goodyear is the only tire company on the top 75 list . the recognition from ri and forbes is the fifth significant honor for goodyear in 2008 . the company was named the world s most admired company in the motor vehicle parts industry by fortune magazine . 20 audit integrity inc. and forbes magazine ranked goodyear sixth on their list of america s most trustworthy companies . 21 the wall street journal recognized goodyear for leading shareholder return for the past five years in the automotive category . goodyear was also ranked among the top 100 corporate citizens selected by cro magazine . 22 the company announced in summer 2009 that it will close its tire plant in the philippines as part of a strategy to address uncompetitive manufacturing capacity globally by the end of the third quarter . 23 goodyear announced plans to sell the assets of its latin american off road tire business to titan tire for us 98.6 million including the plant in sao paulo brazil and a licensing agreement that allows titan to continue manufacturing under the goodyear brand . this deal is similar to titan s 2005 purchase of goodyear s us farm tire assets . 24 25 in 2011 more than 70 years after the dissolution of the goodyear zeppelin corporation it is announced that goodyear will partner with zeppelin again the legacy company zeppelin luftschifftechnik to build more zeppelins together . 26 timeline edit goodyear tires advertisement syracuse post standard february 26 1916 source 27 1898 goodyear founded 1899 automobile tires added to the original product line of bicycle tires carriage tires and horseshoe pads 1901 seiberling makes racing tires for henry ford 1903 paul litchfield granted patent on first tubeless automobile tire litchfield would go on to become president of goodyear zeppelin then board chairman 1908 ford s model t is outfitted with goodyear tires 1909 first pneumatic aircraft tire 1911 first airship envelope 1912 goodyear blimp first debuts 1917 made airships and balloons for the u.s. military during world war i 1919 tires on the winning car at the indianapolis 500 1924 zeppelin patents acquired joint venture goodyear zeppelin corporation formed with the german company 1925 pilgrim is launched the first commercial non rigid airship