Chloe Adams
After the death of Asa Griggs Candler in 1929, The Coca-Cola Company was sold to a group of investors led by Ernest Woodruff's Trust Company for $25 million. The company offered 500,000 shares to the public for $40 each, raising $20 million in 1919 (approximately $300 million in today's money). In 1923, Woodruff's son, Robert Winship Woodruff, became the president of the company and expanded Coca-Cola's reach worldwide.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year of death | 1929 |
| Date of death | March 12 |
| Age at death | (77 or 78) |
| Place of death | Wesley Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia |
| Burial place | Westview Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia |
| Cause of death | Natural causes (old age) |
| Coca-Cola-related actions before death | Gained full ownership of the company, founded the modern Coca-Cola Company, expanded the company, developed the distinctive hobble-skirt bottle, removed cocaine from the drink, sold the company to a group of investors |
| Coca-Cola-related actions after death | The company continued to expand globally under new leadership, with bottling operations becoming widespread |
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What You'll Learn
Asa Candler's death in 1929
Asa Griggs Candler, the founder of The Coca-Cola Company, died on March 12, 1929, at Wesley Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. He was an American business tycoon and politician who, in 1888, purchased the Coca-Cola recipe from chemist John Stith Pemberton. In 1892, he founded the Coca-Cola Company and developed it into a major company.
Candler's death in 1929 came 31 years after he founded the company. In that time, he had grown the company exponentially, establishing the trademark and ensuring the carbonated soft drink was available in every state in the country. In 1899, Coca-Cola was exported to Cuba, and exports to Europe began in 1901.
In 1916, Candler was elected mayor of Atlanta, and he ended his day-to-day management of the company. In 1917, the company agreed to reduce the amount of caffeine in the drink by 50%. In 1919, Candler gave most of the stock in the company to his children, who sold their shares to a consortium of investors led by Ernest Woodruff. The Trust Company of Georgia purchased the Coca-Cola Company for $25 million, and the company offered 500,000 shares to the public for $40 each.
In 1923, four years after Candler's death, Woodruff's son, Robert Winship Woodruff, became the president of the company, and he expanded the company and brought Coca-Cola to the rest of the world.
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Coca-Cola's expansion under Robert Woodruff
After Asa Candler's death in 1929, his shares in the Coca-Cola Company were sold to a consortium of investors led by Ernest Woodruff. Four years later, in 1923, Ernest's son Robert Woodruff became president of the company.
Under Robert Woodruff's leadership, the Coca-Cola Company expanded rapidly and became a world-renowned corporation. Woodruff brought to the company an intuitive feel for how to attain success, the instincts of a born salesman, and a sharp eye for customer wants. He disliked losing, and his passion became the success of the company he led.
Woodruff's directive to establish an international market was highly successful. By the late 1930s, bottling plants were operating in 44 countries, and Coca-Cola was a household name. The company weathered the Great Depression with rising profits, as Woodruff noted that "everyone has a nickel" to spend on a Coke.
Woodruff's expansion of the company was also due in large part to his style of advertising. He explained: "We've tried to show Coca-Cola as a pleasant, unassuming social amenity. I guess that's what they now call the soft sell. We've never made claims. We've tried to do with our advertising what we always try to do with everybody inside and outside the company—to be liked."
By 1985, the year of Woodruff's death, Coca-Cola was the world's single largest-selling product, with sales of $2.3 billion out of the company's total sales of $5 billion. The drink was sold in 135 countries, and it was consumed about 60 million times a day.
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The company's sale in 1919
In 1919, Asa Griggs Candler sold the Coca-Cola Company, a Georgia corporation, for $25 million to a group of capitalists. The new company was incorporated in Delaware but kept its headquarters in Atlanta. Before the sale, Mr Candler's private fortune was estimated to be between $40 and $50 million.
The sale of the company was a significant event in the history of Atlanta. It put the city on the world map, generated wealth for its residents, and created tens of thousands of jobs. The Coca-Cola Company had been founded by Candler in 1892, and he had gained sole ownership of the soft drink in 1892 or 1900, for which he paid $2,300. Over the next three decades, he grew the company exponentially, establishing the trademark and ensuring the carbonated soft drink was available in every state in the country.
In 1919, Candler gave most of his stake in Coca-Cola to his five children: Charles Howard Candler, Asa G. Candler Jr., Walter T. Candler, William Candler, and Lucy Beall Candler. The new shareholders included John S. Candler, Samuel D. Dobbs, Frank M. Robinson, and Samuel L. Willard. The new ownership group promptly sold the company to the Atlanta financial institution led by Ernest Woodruff's Trust Company. Each of the shareholders received $10 million in preferred stock in the new company, which retained the name Coca-Cola Co.
The company publicly offered 500,000 shares of the company for $40 a share, raising $20 million in 1919. Adjusted for inflation, this would be about $300 million in today's money. The sale of Coca-Cola Co. in 1919 was a transformative event for the city of Atlanta, creating wealth for many generations of Atlantans and making the city a part of the world's largest beverage company.
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The $1 contract
In 1892, Asa Griggs Candler founded the Coca-Cola Company. The following year, he trademarked the brand and distributed the first dividends to the company's shareholders. By 1895, the company was distributing Coca-Cola nationwide in the United States.
However, Candler's focus was primarily on boosting soda fountain sales. It was Joseph A. Biedenharn from Vicksburg, Mississippi, who first bottled Coca-Cola in 1894. He was impressed by the growing demand for the drink at his soda fountain and installed bottling machinery in the rear of his store. He began selling cases of Coca-Cola up and down the Mississippi River.
In 1899, large-scale bottling became possible when Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead from Chattanooga, Tennessee, secured the exclusive rights to bottle and sell Coca-Cola across the United States. They achieved this through Asa Candler's "$1 contract", where he sold the rights to bottle Coca-Cola in the US for just one dollar.
The contract proved problematic for the Coca-Cola Company for decades to come. It allowed the bottlers to subcontract to other companies, effectively becoming parent bottlers. The contract specified that bottles would be sold at 5 cents each and had no fixed duration, leading to the fixed price of Coca-Cola from 1886 to 1959.
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Coca-Cola's bottling evolution
In 1899, large-scale bottling was made possible when Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead secured exclusive rights to bottle and sell Coca-Cola across the United States. They joined another entrepreneur, John T. Lupton, and together they developed the worldwide Coca-Cola bottling system. The first Coca-Cola bottling company was established in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the same year.
In the early 1900s, Coca-Cola bottlers faced challenges, particularly in protecting their products and packaging from imitation. This issue led to the evolution of the distinctive hobble-skirt bottle, approved by bottlers in 1916. The unique contour bottle, designed by the Root Glass Company of Indiana, was trademarked in 1977.
Over the next 20 years, the number of Coca-Cola plants grew exponentially, with over 95% of them locally owned and operated. The development of high-speed bottling machinery and efficient transportation enabled bottlers to expand their reach and serve more customers. By the time of Asa Candler's death in 1929, the Coca-Cola bottling system had become one of the largest and most widespread production and distribution networks in the world.
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Frequently asked questions
After Candler's death in 1929, the company continued to grow and expand globally under the leadership of Robert Woodruff, who became president in 1923.
Robert Woodruff was a transformational leader, not just for Coca-Cola but also for the city of Atlanta. He was responsible for the company's worldwide expansion and contributed significantly to the city and its important causes.
Yes, Candler was prominent among civic leaders in Atlanta and served as the city's 41st mayor from 1916 to 1919. He also built several notable buildings, including the Candler Building in Atlanta and one in Kansas City, known as the Western Auto Building.
In 1919, before his death, Candler gave most of his stake in the company to his children, who then sold their shares to a group of investors led by Ernest Woodruff. This transaction put Atlanta on the world map, generated wealth for the city's residents, and created thousands of jobs.
It is believed that Candler wanted to focus on his other ventures and interests. Additionally, he had already grown the company exponentially over the previous three decades, establishing the trademark and ensuring the drink's availability nationwide.
