Praxair
 | |
| Public | |
| Traded as |
NYSE: PX S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Chemicals (industrial gases) |
| Founded | 1907 |
| Headquarters | Danbury, Connecticut |
Key people | Steve Angel - Chairman, President and CEO |
| Revenue | US$ 12 billion (2013) |
Number of employees | 27,000 (2014) |
| Website | http://www.praxair.com |
Praxair, Inc. is an industrial gases company. It is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and the third-largest worldwide by revenue.
History
The company was originally founded by Carl von Linde as Linde Air Products Company in 1907. In 1917, it joined with 4 other chemical companies under the name Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation, while maintaining a separate identity.[1] Its degree of independence waxed and waned over the years, and in 1989, it was spun off as a subsidiary, Union Carbide Industrial Gases Inc., and renamed to Praxair when it became a formally independent company three years later.[2] The name is derived from a combination of the Greek word "praxis", or practical application, and "air", the company's primary raw material.
Praxair was the first company in North America to commercialize cryogenically separated oxygen. The company introduced the first distribution system for liquid gas in 1917 and developed on-site gas supply in the 1940s. In the 1960s, Praxair introduced non-cryogenic means of air separation.
References
- ↑ "Praxair, Inc." International Directory of Company Histories. Ed. Paula Kepos. Vol. 11. Detroit: St. James Press, 1995. 402-404
- ↑ http://www.unioncarbide.com/History