The story
Founded by Henry Villard on Jun 14, 1890.1
In 1889, the New Jersey legislature passed legislation to facilitate the control of other companies by another corporation. This was part of a bid to entice trusts to convert into holding companies and move to New Jersey. It persuaded the Oregon company Oregon and Transcontinental to re-incorporate as a holding company in New Jersey and became the North American Company.
When the Dow Jones Industrial Average was created on May 26, 1896, North American's stock was one of the 12 component stocks, but it was replaced on August 26 by U.S. Cordage. On October 1, 1928, when the number of stocks comprising the DJIA was increased to 30, North American was re-added to the list but was replaced by Johns-Manville in 1930.
By 1940, North American was a US$2.3 billion holding company that directly and indirectly ran 80 companies.
It had 10 major direct subsidiaries, in eight of which it owned at least 79%. The 10 included:
Three major holding companies:
Union Electric Company of St. Louis, Missouri
Washington Railway and Electric Company
North American Light and Power Company
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Four operating companies:
Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company
Pacific Gas and Electric
Detroit Edison Company
Wisconsin Electric Power Company
And three others:
North American Utility Securities Corporation
West Kentucky Coal Company
60 Broadway Building Corporation
At various times during its existence, North American also owned substantial interests in these other companies as well:
The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company: Formed in 1896 as a subsidiary of the North American Company. By 1929, it operated within North American Company along with Wisconsin Electric Power Company, which became the consolidated name of the two operating companies in 1938. It now belongs to Wisconsin Energy Corporation (NYSE: WEC)
Capital Transit: Formed on December 1, 1933, in Washington, D.C., from the merger of the Washington Railway and Electric Company and Capital Traction streetcar companies and the Washington Rapid Transit bus company. North American owned it through its WRECo holding company subsidiary, which in turn was the holding company for the merged lines, owning 50% of Capital Transit.
Potomac Electric Power Company
Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company
Union Light, Heat and Power of Covington, Kentucky
Northern Natural Gas Company
Butte Electric and Power Company
Laclede Gas Company
Edison Securities Corporation
Wired Radio, Inc. (Muzak)
North American Edison Company
St. Louis United Railways Company
Breakup
The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 passed with the intent of breaking up interstate electric holding companies by limiting company operations to a single state, thus subjecting them to effective state regulation. The North American Company fought the legislation in court, and the company was not broken up by the Securities and Exchange Commission until their loss before the Supreme court in North American Co. v. SEC on April 1, 1946.
From Wikipedia’s article on North American Company, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3