WD-40 Company

#4092

Rank

$2.69B

Marketcap

United States

Country

Leadership team

Mr. Steven A. Brass (CEO, Pres & Director)

Ms. Phenix Quach Kiamilev (VP, Gen. Counsel & Corp. Sec.)

Mr. Jay W. Rembolt (Strategic Advisor)

Products/ Services

Consumer Goods, Manufacturing, Marketing

Number of Employees

500 - 1000

Headquarters

San Diego, California, United States

Established

1953

Company Registration

SEC CIK number: 0000105132

Net Income

20M - 100M

Revenue

500M - 1B

Traded as

WDFC

Social Media

URL

https://www.wd40company.com

Overview

Location

Recognition and Award

References

Summary

WD-40 Company develops and sells maintenance products, and homecare and cleaning products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides multi-purpose maintenance products that include aerosol sprays, non-aerosol trigger sprays, and in liquid-bulk form products under the WD-40 Multi-Use brand name; and specialty maintenance products, such as penetrants, degreasers, corrosion inhibitors, greases, lubricants, and rust removers under the WD-40 Specialist brand, as well as various products under the WD-40 Bike brand name. It also offers multi-purpose and specialty drip oils, and spray lubricant products, as well as other specialty maintenance products under the 3-IN-ONE brand name; and professional spray maintenance products and lubricants for the bike market under the GT85 brand name. In addition, the company provides automatic toilet bowl cleaners under the 2000 Flushes brand name; aerosol and liquid trigger carpet stain and odor eliminators under the Spot Shot brand; room and rug deodorizers under the Carpet Fresh brand name; carpet and household cleaners, and rug and room deodorizers under the 1001 brand; heavy-duty hand cleaner products under the Lava brand name in the United States, as well as under the Solvol brand name in Australia; and automatic toilet bowl cleaners under the X-14 brand name. It sells its products primarily through warehouse club stores, hardware stores, automotive parts outlets, industrial distributors and suppliers, mass retail and home center stores, value retailers, grocery stores, online retailers, farm supply, sport retailers, and independent bike dealers. The company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

History

Sources credit different people with inventing WD-40 formula in 1953 as part of the Rocket Chemical Company , in San Diego, California; the formula was kept as a trade secret and was never patented.According to Iris Engstrand, a historian of San Diego and California history at the University of San Diego, Iver Norman Lawson invented the formula, while the WD-40 company website and other books and newspapers credit Norman B. Larsen. According to Engstrand, " Lawson was acknowledged at the time, but his name later became confused with company president Norman B. Larsen." "WD-40" is abbreviated from the term "Water Displacement, 40th formula", suggesting it was the result of the 40th attempt to create the product. The spray, composed of various hydrocarbons, was originally designed to be used by Convair to protect the outer skin of the Atlas missile from rust and corrosion. This outer skin also functioned as the outer wall of the missile's paper-thin fuel balloon tanks, which were so fragile that, when empty, they had to be kept inflated with nitrogen to prevent them from collapsing. WD-40 was later found to have many household uses and was made available to consumers in San Diego in 1958.In Engstrand's account, it was Iver Norman Lawson who came up with the water-displacing mixture after working at home and turned it over to the Rocket Chemical Company for the sum of $500 . It was Norman Larsen, president of the company, who had the idea of packaging it in aerosol cans and marketed it in this way.It was written up as a new consumer product in 1961. By 1965 it was being used by airlines including Delta and United; United, for example, was using it on fixed and movable joints of their DC-8 and Boeing 720s in maintenance and overhaul. At that time, airlines were using a variant called WD-60 to clean turbines, removing light rust from control lines, and when handling or storing metal parts. By 1969 WD-40 was being marketed to farmers and mechanics in England. In 1973, WD-40 Company, Inc., went public with its first stock offering. Its NASDAQ stock symbol is .

Mission

Our mission is to provide our customers with products that make life easier by providing quality solutions to everyday maintenance needs.

Vision

We strive to create a company that is dedicated to offering products of the highest quality, while being efficient in execution and ethical in our dealings. We want to build a company to be proud of and that our customers can trust.

Key Team

Ms. Patricia Q. Olsem (Divisional Pres of The Americas)

Ms. Sara Hyzer (VP of Fin., Treasurer & CFO)

Ms. Rae Ann Partlo (Principal Accounting Officer, VP & Corp. Controller)

Wendy D. Kelley (Director of Investor Relations & Corp. Communications)

Mr. Jeffrey G. Lindeman (VP of Global Organizational Devel. & Chief HR Officer)

Mr. Geoffrey J. Holdsworth (Managing Director of Asia-Pacific)

Mr. William B. Noble (Group Managing Director)

Recognition and Awards

WD-40 Company has been honored with several awards, including the “Most Valuable Brand” award from the Consumer Electronics Association and the “Superior Customer Service” award from the Industrial Distributors Association.