Editing ThyssenKrupp (section)

==History==
ThyssenKrupp is the result of a merger of two German steel companies, [[Thyssen AG]] founded in 1891 under the name ''Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser'' and [[Krupp]] founded in 1811. As early as the 1980s, the companies began negotiations on a merger and began closely cooperating in some business areas.  In 1997, the companies combined their flat steel activities, with a full merger completed in March 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.Thyssenkrupp.com/en/konzern/geschichte_konzern_k5.html|title=Krupp – Lead up to the merger with Thyssen|date=30 September 2013|work=Thyssenkrupp.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928085138/http://www.Thyssenkrupp.com/en/konzern/geschichte_konzern_k5.html|archive-date=28 September 2011}}</ref>

===Beginnings (1811–1891)===
'''Krupp'''
* 1811: [[Friedrich Carl Krupp]] established a cast steel factory in [[Essen|Essen, Germany]].
* 1826: After Friedrich Krupp's death in 1826, his widow Therese Krupp ran the company together with other relatives and her eldest son Alfred, who was 14 years old at the time.
* 1833: Krupp manufactures complete rolling machines.
* 1847: Expansion of the railroads increases the demand for durable cast steel, triggering the company's first surge of growth. Supplies include axles, springs, and seamless tires that can withstand increasing speed without cracking.
* 1859: The Prussian military orders 300 gun barrels, marking the development of the company's second major production segment; shortly after Krupp begins producing complete artillery.
* 1862: Construction of the first [[Bessemer process|Bessemer]] steel plant on the continent for mass production of rails and steel sheets.
* 1864–1872: The company purchases various iron ore mines to avoid dependency on external suppliers. In 1873, Krupp established his own shipping company in Rotterdam to transport ore from the [[Economy of Spain|Spanish]] company Orconera Iron Ore Co., in which he owned shares.
* 1872: Alfred Krupp issues a "General Directive" establishing company hierarchy from foreman to management. Included in the directive are regulations concerning company welfare programs, including the pension fund, sickness, and death benefit insurance, company bakery and retail store, worker housing estates, and health care, all of which were slowly introduced beginning in 1836.

'''Thyssen'''
[[File:Thyssen & Co AG 1922.jpg|thumb|Bond of the Thyssen & Co. AG, issued February 1922]]
* 1867: Establishment of Thyssen, Fossoul & Co., a company making hoop iron for barrels, crates, baling, etc.
* 1871: Establishment of Thyssen & Co. in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany
* 1891: August Thyssen becomes the owner of the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser coal mine in [[Hamborn]] near [[Duisburg]]. One year earlier, the Thyssen company constructed a steel mill directly adjacent to one of the pits, thus Thyssen grows into an iron and steel mill with its own coal base.

===Wilhelminian period (1892–1917)===
'''Krupp'''
* 1893: After the death of Alfred Krupp in 1887, Friedrich Alfred Krupp expands his father's enterprise with takeovers of additional steel mills and shipyards and construction of diesel engines in collaboration with [[Rudolf Diesel]].
* 1899: With the acquisition of and/or increased investment in various coal mines (Hannibal colliery near [[Bochum]] and the Emscher-Lippe coal mine near [[Datteln]]) business development concentrates on vertical structures with the expansion of a coal base.
* 1903: [[Friedrich Alfred Krupp]] dies suddenly in 1902 at the age of 48 and his eldest daughter [[Bertha Krupp]] inherits the company. The company is converted into a stock corporation by the will of the late owner; Bertha retains all the stock. As she is still a minor, her mother Margarethe Krupp as guardian and proprietor takes over as the head of the company, managed by a board of directors.
* 1906: Bertha Krupp marries Gustav von Bohlen und Halbach who adds the Krupp name as a prefix to his own family name. He is appointed vice-chairman of the board and serves as chairman through 1943.
* 1912: Development of stainless, acid-resistant steels quickly finds application in the chemical and food processing industries, medicine, and building. The spire of New York's [[Chrysler Building]] is clad in the new stainless steel panels.
* 1917: The "[[Paris Gun]]" is developed with a range of {{convert|130|km|mi|sigfig=1|abbr=on}}.

'''Thyssen'''
* 1895: Thyssen sets up integrated iron and steel mill with the construction of a blast furnace plant at the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser. Expansion later is focused on vertical integration of the group.
* 1906: Intra-company trading and shipping organizations are established to facilitate the transport of iron ore to the blast furnace plants. In 1910, the N.V. Handels- en Transport Maatschappij Vulcaan ocean shipping company is established in Rotterdam to keep the Thyssen group independent of the international freight market.
* 1910: Expansion with mills in the [[Lorraine]] and in [[Normandy]].
* 1912: Various branches are set up in the Mediterranean area (Algiers, Port Said, Suez, Oran, Naples, Bona, Bizerte, Tangier, and Genoa) so that freighters can store coal en route to Russian or Indian ore mines besides delivery of coal or freight for third parties.
* 1913: Attention is paid to Latin America with the founding of the ''Deutsch-Überseeische Handelsgesellschaft'' (German Overseas Trading Company). Thyssen constructs extensive housing estates and related infrastructure to attract workers to the western Ruhr area. By the end of 1913, Thyssen owns 8,750 housing units for 15,500 employees and 850 civil servants: housing for 44,000 people.
* 1914: Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser begins producing armaments for the First World War. To compensate for labor shortages, women, civilians from Belgium, and prisoners of war work for the company.

===Weimar Republic (1918–1933)===
'''Krupp'''
* 1919: After the [[Treaty of Versailles]], Krupp reverts to peace-time production focusing on the manufacture of locomotives, trucks, agricultural machinery, and excavators. The post-war circumstances of inflation, occupation, and dismantling of the company's industrial infrastructure led to a financial crisis in 1924/25. The company stabilizes by, among other measures, streamlining processing operations and expanding stainless steel production.
* 1926: Sintered tungsten carbide was developed by [[Osram]] as a material for machining metal. In 1925, Krupp buys the licence and launches sintered carbide onto the market, exploiting its exceptional hardness and wear resistance, which represents a breakthrough in tool engineering.
* 1929: A 15,000-ton forging press goes into operation in [[Borbeck-Mitte|Essen-Borbeck]]. It is at the time the largest worldwide.

'''Thyssen'''
* 1919: The company is renamed from Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser to August Thyssen-Hütte; Gewerkschaft and mining operations are transferred to an independent company, Gewerkschaft Friedrich Thyssen. The company's foreign interests in the Allied and Soviet countries are expropriated.
* 1926: Major parts of the Thyssen group are transferred to a newly merged group, [[Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG]], bringing together several coal and steel companies in the [[Ruhr]] area to solve cost and production problems of excess capacities. August Thyssen dies at Schloss Landsberg near [[Essen]]. His sons Fritz Thyssen and Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza inherit the industrial enterprises. His other two children, Hedwig and August Jr., are compensated differently.

===Nazi Germany (1933–1945)===
'''Krupp'''
* 1930-1933:  Thyssen and Krupp were among the industrialists who originally saw Hitler's movement as flawed and stayed away. It was during this period, however, they and others were persuaded to assist the Nazi movement or face threats.  And thus in the end, both contributed greatly to the Nazi political and war efforts.   (Shirer, William, "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.")

* 1937: As dictated by Hitler's [[Four-Year Plan]], production of locomotives, trucks, and ships was expanded and armaments production resumed.
* 1941: Krupp Germania shipyard was extended with the acquisition of Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG "Deschimag" to include larger ships and submarines. Krupp took advantage of foreign labourers, [[slavery|slave labourers]], prisoners of war, and Jews to compensate for labour shortages. It is estimated that a total of 100,000 people were forced to work by the company. Moreover, it had a workshop near the [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]] complex. Due to the company's involvement in the war, [[Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach]] was then convicted for [[crimes against humanity]] and received a sentence of 12 years imprisonment during [[Krupp trial|The United States of America vs. Alfried Krupp]], et al., trial of 8 December 1947 – 31 July 1948.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/services/federal-research-division/about-this-service/|title=About this Service &#124; Federal Research Division &#124; Services &#124; Library of Congress|website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA|accessdate=7 April 2023}}</ref>

'''Thyssen'''
* 1934: The company August Thyssen-Hütte AG is spun off the Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG as a so-called operating company.
* 1939: [[Fritz Thyssen]], chairman of the Board of Vereingte Stahlwerke AG, flees to [[Switzerland]] after the invasion of [[Poland]]. Vichy France hands over Thyssen and his wife to the [[German Reich]] at the end of 1940.
* 1940: A rearmament policy is introduced by the Nazis in the mid-1930s and with the outbreak of war, labor is conscripted and supplemented by foreign workers, slave laborers, and prisoners of war.
* 1945: Thyssenhütte mill in Hamborn occupied by US troops.

[[File:Thyssen-Krupp-Quartier-Essen-Q1-2013.jpg|thumb|Corporate headquarters in [[Essen|Essen, Germany]]]]
[[File:Thyssen Krupp Hochhaus in Düsseldorf (vom Hofgarten aus).jpg|upright=0.5|thumb|Former Thyssenkrupp building in [[Düsseldorf]]]]
[[File:ThyssenKrupp Test Tower, Rottweil.jpg|thumb|upright|ThyssenKrupp [[elevator]] [[Rottweil Test Tower|test tower]] (246m)<ref>See German Wikipedia: [[:de:Thyssenkrupp Testturm|Thyssenkrupp Testturm]]</ref> near [[Rottweil|Rottweil, Germany]] (2018)]]

===Mergers and acquisitions===
During a period of expansion in 1978, [[Thyssen AG]] entered the North American automotive industry with the acquisition of [[Budd Company|Budd]]'s automotive operations,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.Thyssenkrupp.com/en/konzern/geschichte_chronik_t1978.html|title=Internationalization and further vertical diversification – Bonn Republic – Thyssenkrupp AG|date=30 September 2013|work=Thyssenkrupp.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626140840/http://www.Thyssenkrupp.com/en/konzern/geschichte_chronik_t1978.html|archive-date=26 June 2015}}</ref> which became the automotive division of Thyssen and operated in North America as Budd Thyssen, later ThyssenKrupp Budd Incorporated. In October 2006, ThyssenKrupp sold ThyssenKrupp Budd's North American body and chassis operations to [[Martinrea International]] Inc.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanmachinist.com/304/News/Article/False/38615/|title=Thyssenkrupp Budd to sell North American automotive body operations|work=americanmachinist.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401165834/http://www.americanmachinist.com/304/News/Article/False/38615/|archive-date=1 April 2012}}</ref>

In 1988, ThyssenKrupp acquired German shock absorber manufacturer Bilstein, when it became a division until 2005, when it became a wholly owned subsidiary.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bilstein.com/en-us/|title=BILSTEIN Corporate|website=BILSTEIN|accessdate=7 April 2023}}</ref> In 1991, ThyssenKrupp acquired German company [[Hoesch AG]]. In 1999, Thyssen (one of the companies of the merger to form Thyssenkrupp Elevator) acquired the [[elevator]] division of American-based conglomerate [[Dover Corporation]]. Four years later, ThyssenKrupp acquired the Korean-based Dongyang Elevator.

In 2005, ThyssenKrupp acquired [[Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft]] (HDW) in [[Kiel]] from [[One Equity Partners]].  [[One Equity Partners]] holds 25% of the TKMS shares. In December 2005, ThyssenKrupp acquired 60% of [[Atlas Elektronik]] from [[BAE Systems]], with [[EADS]] acquiring the remaining 40%.

In August 2007, ThyssenKrupp Materials North America acquired OnlineMetals.com, a small-quantity distributor of semi-finished metals and plastics based in [[Seattle]].<ref>"ThyssenKrupp Materials NA acquires OnlineMetals.com" 
[https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/thyssenkrupp-materials-na-acquires-onlinemetals-com-1875.html ThyssenKrupp] 17 August 2007.<br />
{{cite web|url=http://www.onlinemetals.com/aboutus.cfm|title=The Story of OnlineMetals.com|work=onlinemetals.com}}</ref> In early 2008, ThyssenKrupp Aerospace acquired Apollo Metals and Aviation Metals, both suppliers to aerospace and defence based in [[Kent, Washington]].

In 2011, ThyssenKrupp sold [[XERVON]] to [[Remondis]].<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/business/thyssenkrupp-sells-xervon-to-germanys-remondis-idUSTRE77M1S8/|title=ThyssenKrupp sells Xervon to Germany's Remondis|date=23 August 2011|agency=Reuters}}</ref>  

In June 2012, ThyssenKrupp sold Thyssenkrupp Waupaca to KPS Capital Partners. ThyssenKrupp Waupaca is a tier two supplier to the automotive industry, located in [[Waupaca, Wisconsin]]. In April 2014, ThyssenKrupp announced it was in talks to sell its [[Swedish Armed Forces|Swedish]] maritime defence unit to [[Saab Group|Saab]] after failing to agree deals with the Swedish government for a new generation of submarines.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-Thyssenkrupp-sweden-shipyard-idUSBREA3D11P20140414| title= Thyssenkrupp in talks to sell Swedish naval shipyard to Saab|author1=Mia Shanley  |author2=Bjorn Rundstrom  |name-list-style=amp | publisher=Reuters | date=15 April 2014}}</ref>

ThyssenKrupp Access, the global manufacturer of home elevators, wheelchair lifts, and stairlifts, has linked up with Chennai-based Indian Company Elite Elevators. The company has launched luxury home elevators segments targeting [[HNI]] Clientele<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eliteelevators.com/|title=Home Elevators India &#124; Residential Lifts – Elite Elevators ®|website=Elite Elevators – No 1 Domestic Home Lifts & Platform Elevators India|accessdate=7 April 2023}}</ref> to launch high-end elevators in [[India]].<ref>[https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/Thyssenkrupp-access-unveils-highend-home-elevator/article9937311.ece Thyssenkrupp Access unveils high-end home elevator]</ref> In June 2018, Thyssenkrupp signed a final agreement with India's [[Tata Steel]] to establish a long-expected steel venture. The 50-50 joint venture was called Thyssenkrupp Tata Steel and it became the second-largest steel producer in Europe, after [[ArcelorMittal]].<ref name="uk.reuters.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/|title=Reuters|website=Reuters|accessdate=7 April 2023}}</ref>

In 2018, ThyssenKrupp announced that the company would split into two companies, ThyssenKrupp Industrials and ThyssenKrupp Materials, but this plan was cancelled in May 2019.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/thyssenkrupp-abandons-planned-split-pursues-ipo-11557486499|title=Thyssenkrupp Abandons Planned Split, Pursues Elevator-Unit IPO|last=Bender|first=Ruth|date=10 May 2019|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=16 May 2019|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

On 1 October 2023 the firm instituted a green energy division, Decarbon Technologies, to develop its energy solutions.<ref>Christoph Steitz and Lisa Shumaker. (14 September 2023). "Thyssenkrupp creates green tech division, launches performance programme". [https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/thyssenkrupp-creates-green-tech-division-launches-performance-programme-2023-09-14/ Reuters website] Retrieved 24 September 2023.</ref>

===Divestments and Restructures of Steel Business===

====Steel Europe====
In September 2017, ThyssenKrupp and India-based Tata Steel announced plans to combine their European steel-making businesses. The final agreement was signed in June 2018. The deal would have structured the European assets as ThyssenKrupp Tata Steel, a 50–50 joint venture headquartered in [[Amsterdam]] and created the second-largest steel producer in Europe.<ref name="uk.reuters.com"/><ref name="wsj-zeke">{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/Thyssenkrupp-tata-clinch-european-steel-deal-1505891598|title=Thyssenkrupp, Tata Seal Long-Awaited European Steel Deal|last1=Turner|first1=Zeke|date=20 September 2017|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|access-date=21 September 2017|last2=Patterson|first2=Scott|location=New York City, New York, United States}}</ref> The merger was finally prohibited by the EU Commission in 2019 for competitive concerns.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Press corner|url=https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/home/en|access-date=23 March 2021|website=European Commission – European Commission|language=en}}</ref>

====Steel Americas====

On 11 May 2007, ThyssenKrupp AG invested €3.1 billion (increased to $4.6 billion in 2010) for a project consisting of building new carbon steel and stainless steel processing facilities in [[Calvert, Alabama]] about 40 miles north of [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]]. The project, along with a multibillion-dollar greenfield steel-making facility in [[Brazil]], was a cornerstone of ThyssenKrupp's new global expansion strategy into the North American steel markets.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.Thyssenkrupp.com/en/presse/art_detail.html&eid=TKBase_1178868417679_1659377840 |title=Press release |date=3 December 2014 |publisher=Thyssenkrupp AG |access-date=18 February 2022 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193605/http://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/presse/art_detail.html%26eid%3DTKBase_1178868417679_1659377840 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The carbon steel and stainless steel companies were independent and operated under different management teams. Co-locating both facilities on the same site enabled the company to optimize the investment in infrastructure and in some shared processing.

Additionally, the Alabama State Port Authority invested over $100 million to build a state-of-the-art transloading slab terminal on the southern tip of Pinto Island in [[Mobile Bay]] to service the inbound raw material slabs for the upriver carbon steel facility. The terminal was necessary since the Tombigbee River depth and lack of [[turning basin]]s prohibit deep draft ship navigation to the site in Calvert.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.asdd.com/pdf/news_05152007.pdf |title=Alabama State Port Authority to Build New Steel Terminal |access-date=14 July 2011 |archive-date=19 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119150726/http://asdd.com/pdf/news_05152007.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The world steel industry peaked in 2007, just as the company spent $12 billion to build the two most modern mills in the world, in Alabama and Brazil. The worldwide Great Recession started in 2008. Heavy cutbacks in construction combined with sharply lowered demand, and prices fell 40%. ThyssenKrupp lost $11 billion on its two new plants, which sold steel below the cost of production. ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel division, Inoxum, including the stainless portion of the US plant, was sold to [[Economy of Finland|Finnish]] stainless steel company [[Outokumpu]] in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|title=New owners of ThyssenKrupp stainless steel division plan visit in June |work=Press-Register |date=31 May 2012 |url=http://blog.al.com/press-register-business/2012/05/new_owners_of_Thyssenkrupp_sta.html |access-date=15 June 2013}}</ref> Finally in 2013, ThyssenKrupp offered the remaining portion of the plant for sale at under $4 billion.<ref>John W. Miller and Ike Henning, "Thiessen gets offers for mills: Final bids for steel complexes in Alabama, Brazil will likely fall short of the company's hopes", ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' 1 March 2013</ref> They sold it to ArcelorMittal and [[Nippon Steel]] the following year for $1.55 billion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf/2014/02/thyssenkrupp_no_more_calvert_s.html|title=ThyssenKrupp no more, Calvert steel processing plant gets a new name after acquisition|last=II|first=Michael Finch|website=AL.com|date=28 February 2014 |language=en-US|access-date=16 December 2018}}</ref>
In February 2017, it agreed to sell its Brazilian steel business CSA to Ternium for €1.5 billion. The two transactions meant that Thyssenkrupp fully parted from the Steel Americas business.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/1c94983c-f911-11e6-9516-2d969e0d3b65|title=Thyssenkrupp sells Brazilian steel business|date=23 February 2017|work=Financial Times}}</ref>

====ThyssenKrupp Tailored Blanks====
In September 2012, ThyssenKrupp agreed to sell the automotive components manufacturer Tailored Blanks to the [[Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation]], based in [[China]] for an undisclosed price.<ref name=reut28912>{{cite news|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/us-Thyssenkrupp-tailoredblanks-idINBRE88R0A920120928|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005073948/http://in.reuters.com/article/us-thyssenkrupp-tailoredblanks-idINBRE88R0A920120928|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 October 2016|title=Thyssenkrupp to sell Tailored Blanks to WISCO|access-date=30 September 2012|publisher=Reuters|date=28 September 2012}}</ref> At the time of the agreement Tailored Blanks had annual sales of around 700 million euros and a global market share of about 40 percent in automotive laser-welded blanks.<ref name=reut28912/>

====ThyssenKrupp Elevator====

[[File:Thyssenkrupp_Elevator_AG_Logo_2021.svg|thumb|TK Elevator logo]]
In April 2015, ThyssenKrupp announced it would invest more than €800 million in the North American region by 2020 to take advantage of the economy's reindustrialization.<ref>{{cite web|author= Georgina Prodhan|url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-Thyssenkrupp-northamerica-idUSKBN0NF1DT20150424 |title= Thyssenkrupp to invest $866 million in North America |publisher=Reuters |date=24 April 2015 |access-date=29 April 2015}}</ref> In February 2020, ThyssenKrupp AG's board announced that it would sell its elevator segment to [[Advent International]], [[Cinven]], and RAG foundation for $18.9 billion.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.industryweek.com/leadership/growth-strategies/article/21124337/thyssenkrupp-sells-elevator-business-for-19b-to-privateequity-group |title=StackPath |website=IndustryWeek.com |date=27 February 2020 |access-date=28 February 2020 }}</ref> The transaction closed in July 2020, and the new stand-alone company was named {{Ill|TK Elevator|fr||de}}.