Listen to a recap of Alfred Sloan's autobiography, titled 'My Years with General Motors.'

Although he didn't create General Motors, Alfred Sloan is widely credited with GM's massive success and is often considered one of the best American businessmen of all time.

Read the founding story of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, named after longtime General Motors CEO Alfred P. Sloan and research director Charles Kettering.

Longtime General Motors CEO Alfred Sloan used the motto 'a car for every purse and purpose' to represent the value of having multiple car brands with different target audiences under one company.

Listen to the story of how General Motors beat out the Ford Motor Company to become the largest car manufacturer by 1931.

Listen to a reflection on General Motors' role in American life.

See a timeline of important moments in General Motors' history, including its early automatic innovations in creating electrical systems in cars and the birth of the American muscle car in 1964.

Charles Kettering, the person who invented the electric starter on cars, helped develop the diesel locomotive engine while working as head researcher at General Motors.

In 1919, General Motors created the General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) to offer car loans and payment plans, revolutionizing America's relationship with debt by offering one of the very first buy now, pay later programs.

Owning a large catalog of brands with distinct purposes and customer bases helped General Motors overtake Ford Motor Company as America's leading car manufacturer, something that still sets the company apart today.

Read what professors at Harvard Business School think led to General Motors' 2009 bankruptcy.

Despite founding General Motors, one of the most successful car companies in the world, William Durant lost his multimillion-dollar fortune before he died.

General Motors President Charles Wilson is often quoted as saying, 'What's good for General Motors is good for America,' in 1953—but a closer examination of the records reveals a different message.

After being the country's largest automaker by sales volume for nearly 100 years, Toyota surpassed General Motors as the top automobile manufacturer in the US—representing a shift in the American economy that once heavily depended on domestic manufacturing.

Learn about how General Motors dismantled America's streetcars

See a timeline of the US government's investments and restructuring efforts of General Motors following the Great Recession.

Mary Barra became the first female CEO of General Motors in 2014, making her the first woman to hold the office in the largely male-dominated automobile industry overall.

After delisting and going private for nearly two years in the midst of the Great Recession, General Motors went public for the second time in 2010 in what was then the largest IPO in history.

One of Henry Ford's early failed business ventures later became Cadillac

Motown Records used an assembly-line approach to songwriting, inspired by founder Berry Gordy's time at Ford Motor Company.

In 1965, consumer advocate Ralph Nader released 'Unsafe At Any Speed,' a scandalous exposé on the risks of cars, prompting backlash from leading automakers including General Motors, which gave way to some of the earliest automobile regulations.

Henry Ford pioneered the first moving assembly line, building on earlier iterations of the manufacturing method

Watch someone drive a Model T Ford, which feels like driving 'a tractor with the soul of a sewing machine'—and learn how to operate one.

During one large strike, 9,000 General Motors workers walked out for 54 days in 1998 over management's decision to hire outside contractors for equipment removal and fears of widespread job losses.

Abandoned Detroit: the decline of America's car mecca

One of Henry Ford's early vehicle prototypes broke an all-time speed record and got him the money to start Ford Motor Company

After investing more than $10B in less than 10 years, General Motors abandoned its controversial robotaxi development efforts in 2024.

Henry Ford built a plastic car from soybeans in 1941

David Ogilvy—one of history's most famous and influential advertising executives—wrote multiple books, including 'Ogilvy on Advertising,' a career memoir full of his favorite copywriting advice.

Robber barons grew monopolies over their respective industries through a combination of aggressive vertical and horizontal integration strategies.

In 2023, the United Auto Workers launched the 'Stand Up Strike,' a six-week strike against all of the 'Big Three' automakers, to bargain for cost-of-living pay increases, end a tiered workforce structure, and more.

Standard Oil used vertical integration to create an empire

Scroll through a Sears historical timeline, starting in the year 1886

David Ogilvy resigned the Rolls-Royce account after dissatisfaction with its cars

Listen to the details of Henry Ford's widely speculated affair and secret child.

Listen to an overview of the Gilded Age and the robber barons—including some of the most famous figures from the time and their lasting impact on American society and the economy.

Read how Fordism helped invent the American middle class

See Walt Disney's corporate strategy document from 1957, complete with a plethora of Mickey Mouse illustrations.

One of Nike's most transformational executives started out as its lawyer

'Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise.'

Before starting Apple, Steve Jobs cold-called HP at 12 years old and got a summer job.

Learn about the relationship between Thomas Edison and Henry Ford

Ray Kroc proposed the idea of franchising McDonald's as a way to sell more of his Multimixers 7 years before buying the McDonald's brothers out of the company for $2.7M.

CEO Gary Tan explains Y Combinators guiding philosophy

Tony Hawk's rise from outsider to skateboarding legend

In February 2014, General Motors recalled more than 2.6 million cars—part of a record 30 million vehicles it recalled that year—over faulty ignition switches that had caused multiple deaths, ultimately costing the company more than $4B in repair costs, victim compensation, and other expenses.

Explore a Sears historical timeline

Apple's first backer recruited his own CEO to help manage the company

Tesla's lack of business savvy and inability to commercialize led to his obscurity

In 1965, Warren Buffett took over Berkshire Hathaway, a failing textile company

When Steve Jobs recruited former CEO Tim Cook to work at Apple in 1998, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy—and many of Cook's friends advised him not to take the job.