An interesting transaction took place on this day in 1925 when Dillon, Read & Company, a formerly prominent American investment bank, purchased Dodge Brothers, Inc. It wasn’t so much the actual sale that stirred interest, but the terms of the deal. The car company sold for $146 million, plus an additional $50 million to be dispersed to various charities. At $146 million alone, the sale became the largest deal to date for any automaker. When adjusted for inflation, this totals more than $2.7 billion in 2020 dollars.
Above: 1925 Dodge, from the year of the saleTop: Horace and John Dodge in the first production Dodge in 1914.
Dillon, Read & Company was an investment powerhouse in the 1920s. They had a reputation for daring transactions outside the purchase of Dodge, which t...