Billy, Alfred, and General Motors

This book written by William Pelfrey, tells a story of two Unique Men, a Legendary Company, and a Remarkable Time in American History. I have not read the whole book, but an excerpt of how General Motors and Ford almost merged once, in 1908, when J.P. Morgan tried to put together a deal between four major car makers: Ford, Buick, Olds, and Briscoe-Maxwell at a secret meeting.  All parties involved had agreed on the merger, including Henry Ford, and the new company would be called "International Motors Corporation." The deal fell through. Reasons involved the psychology of self-made men vs. schooled managers, distributed vs. central control, and inventors vs. the financiers they hated but couldn't grow without. W.C. "Billy" Durant, who attended the meeting as the head of Buick, went on to make the deal later that year, without Ford, and called the new company "General Motors." Pelfrey writes of the early years of Billy Durant and Alfred Sloan and the very different roles they played in the history of General Motors. For further reading, visit the following:

http://www.authorviews.com/authors/pelfrey/pelfrey-obd.htm