NL Industries (), formerly known as the National Lead Company, is a lead smelting company currently based in Houston, Texas. National Lead was one of the 12 original stocks included in the

Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity inde ...

at the time of its creation on May 26, 1896. NL Industries (Dutch Boy Paint) Specimen Stock Certificate, c

History

It began business in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

in 1772. The name "National Lead Company" was used since 1891 after a series of mergers. National Lead changed its name to NL Industries in 1971.

California lead paint liability case

NL Industries has encountered legal problems based on their long history of selling

lead paint Lead paint or lead-based paint is paint containing lead. As pigment, lead(II) chromate (, "chrome yellow"), lead(II,IV) oxide, (, "red lead"), and lead(II) carbonate (, "white lead") are the most common forms.. Lead is added to paint to accele ...

. Exposure to lead paint can cause numerous health and developmental problems in children and adults, and its use has been banned or restricted in many countries. In January 2014, the

Santa Clara County Superior Court The Superior Court of California for and in the County of Santa Clara is the state trial court in and for Santa Clara County, California. The Santa Clara Superior Court serves the public by providing equal justice for all in a fair, accessible, ...

ruled that NL Industries, along with

Sherwin-Williams Sherwin-Williams Company is an American Cleveland, Ohio–based company in the paint and coating manufacturing industry. The company primarily engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings, floorcoverings, and related p ...

and

ConAgra Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...

were jointly and severally liable for $1.15 billion, to be paid into a lead paint abatement fund to be used to remove lead paint from older housing. The judge ruled that the paint companies manufactured, marketed, and sold lead paint without disclosing the health risks to the consumers in spite of "actual and constructive knowledge that it was harmful." The disposition of ''The People v. ConAgra Grocery Products Company et al.'' in the California 6th Appellate District Court on November 14, 2017, is that On February 14, 2018, the California Supreme Court denied the defendants' request for review, sending the case back to the trial court as ordered by the Appellate Court. NL Industries settled its part of the suit in May, 2018 with a payment of $60 million and a pledge to stop supporting the ConAgra & Sherwin-Williams backed ballot measure proposed for the November, 2018 ballot

National Lead and Dutch Boy Paints

In 1907, National Lead entered the consumer market for titanium paints, creating a product line under the name " Dutch Boy". Dutch Boy paints competed with other brands that contained mineral products supplied by National Lead. The "Dutch Boy Painter", which was created by

Lawrence Carmichael Earle Lawrence Carmichael Earle (November 11, 1845 – 1921) was an American painter. Born in New York City, Lawrence lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan as a child for 11 or 12 years (from 1856 until about 1868), when he left for formal art instruction. I ...

, became National Lead's symbol for many years. NL Industries sold off the Dutch Boy brand in 1980 to

, two years after the CPSC's directive banning the manufacturing of lead housepaint went into effect.

CompX International

CompX International Inc. is one of the largest manufacturers of security products and recreational marine components in the world. Located in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, CompX International Inc. is also a subsidiary of NL Industries, Inc. The business of the company is divided into three segments: Security Products, Furniture Components and Marine Components. Their products are designed to meet the high-end applications. CompX International Inc. offers its products through original equipment manufacturers and distributors.

History

Based in

, CompX was founded to open business on August 4, 1993. In March 1998, CompX International Inc. completed its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

, making it a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...

with stocks traded on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

under the symbol of CIX. In 1999, CompX International moved the corporate headquarters from Mauldin, S.C. to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. On Jan 11, 2000, CompX International Inc. acquired Chicago Lock Co. successfully for about $9.2 million in cash, which was borrowed under its existing credit facility. In May 2002, CompX International achieved an agreement to close its

corporate office. In September 2004, NL Industries completed the acquisition of 68% of CompX International for $168.6 million. In December 2012, CompX International Inc. sold its Furniture Components operations to Knape & Vogt Manufacturing Company for approximately $59 million in cash.

Leadership

The main officers of the company are listed as follows:Managers
/ref> *David Bowers - President, chief executive officer *Jim Brown - Chief Financial Officer

References

External links

*
Fundinguniverse.com: History of NL Industries, Inc.

Compx.com: CompX International website
{{Authority control Conglomerate companies of the United States Holding companies of the United States Lead companies Lead poisoning incidents Mining companies of the United States Paint manufacturers Smelting Titanium mining Manufacturing companies based in Houston Companies based in Philadelphia American companies established in 1891 Conglomerate companies established in 1971 Holding companies established in 1891 Manufacturing companies established in 1891 1891 establishments in Pennsylvania 1971 establishments in Texas Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average