As a student, I attended GMI-EMI (now Kettering University) and learned about the standard history of General Motors in the library.  Alfred Sloan and a litany of other top leaders are referred to, but the founder was mentioned only in passing.  A name that has been relegated to a footnote of history is Billy Durant the founder of General Motors.  Why would the name of the founder of the largest corporation in the world for many years be hardly recognized?  How many of you have never heard of Billy Durant?

Billy Durant grew up in Flint Michigan and attended the local Flint High School and from humble beginnings accomplished incredible things.  I feel it is my responsibility to remind people of the incredible visionary leader—who was responsible for much of the growth of Flint.    You want to talk about vision?  Billy founded Buick, Chevrolet, General Motors, and Durant Motors.  Billy Durant stated in the early 1900’s that highways would stretch across the United States.  J.P. Morgan; the wealthy financier, thought Billy and his dream for the automobile was insane and refused to give him money.   As a visionary you must expect the criticism of smaller minds that cannot see as far.  It is a given in any large undertaking.  It has been said, “The biggest minds with the biggest ideas will be criticized by the smallest minds with the smallest ideas.”   Billy received this critical treatment in spades.

Henry Ford two times sold Ford to Billy Durant and it was only Ford’s refusal to accept anything but cash that nixed the deals at the last minute.  Think about how different the story would have turned out if Billy would have bought Ford and joined it to General Motors.   Henry Ford willingness to sell to Billy Durant displays who had the real vision for the automobile.  The Big 3 automobile firms for years were GM, Ford and Chrysler.  Billy founded GM, nearly bought out Ford twice, and hired Walter Chrysler at Buick.  All three major US firms were affected by the entrepreneurship of Mr. Durant.  Billy made and lost his fortune three times in his life.  He died near penniless in Flint Michigan during World War II.   Approaching death—he stated in the early 1940’s that fast food restaurants and bowling allies would be big and began developing them!  Billy’s vision has always inspired me personally.  I won’t tell you the whole story, but you can read it for yourself in a couple of books finally written about Billy Durant. 

The following article is an epilogue from Lawrence Gustin’s phenomenal book on Billy Durant.  The epilogue was written by Clarence H. Young who was the assistant director of the Manufacturers Association of Flint.   He has been cited as a leading authority on Billy Durant and his tribute to Billy Durant is one of the best I have ever read.

In the creation of the Mass Production Age, Durant was not only the presiding genius; he was, indeed, the Titan—and, as was the fate of the original Titans, he was destroyed by the Olympians whom he had created.

It is almost poignant now to tell the beads of carping criticism reiterated against Durant: He lacked or ignored technical mastery . . . . . he was a good promoter, but no administrator. . . .He had no organization. . . . He could not delegate authority. . . . He made poor choices of executives. . . . He was a promoter, a gambler. . . . He was wrong in believing in himself. . . .

It is completely true that W. C. Durant had a weakness: He was human.  His humanity included love and trust of his associates—the not-always-correct assumption that they were as honorable as he.  He gave a degree and quality of loyalty to “his people” beyond any measurement; he expected the same magnitude of loyalty from them.

He surrendered the control of General Motors in 1910 to preserve the company for its investors.  In 1920, his loyalty to his company and its stockholders drove him to spend more money than he had preserving the value of the company’s name, reputation, and stock.  As for his feckless choice of executives, he hired and developed Charles W. Nash, Charles F. Kettering, Alfred P. Sloan, (also Walter Chrysler and almost Henry Ford) and a few thousand others.

What was Durant? . . . . A small-town boy from a broken home who had no advantages at all except his own character.  With a borrowed $2000 he built up the largest carriage company in the world.  With a debt-ridden, faltering motor company, he created the world’s largest corporation, providing millions of jobs all over the world in the past 65 years. (Over a 100 years now)

Small in stature, W. C. Durant was larger than life in every aspect of his thought, spirit, and practice.  He was, indeed, so much larger in concept that he made the lesser men who surrounded him uncomfortable—he was unpredictable as an elemental force of nature.

Durant was an original genius who escapes classification and definition; he had an almost godlike prescience; he had the creativity to translate his vision to reality, not only for himself but for his fellow men.  He was compassionate, gentle, charming, delightful, considerate, brilliant, generous, ingenious, and infinitely loyal.

Mass production—the greatest servant ever tamed to the uses of mankind—was still only an idea when Durant grasped it.  He more than any other man, implemented this great multiplier of goods and good for mankind.  He was, indeed, what Dickens called, “The Founder of the Feast”—and we are still eating at his bountiful table, although we have forgotten his name.