Dow Inc.

Herbert H. Dow was born in Belleville, Ontario, on February 26, 1866, and graduated with a B.S. from Case School in 1888. He started Dow Process Co. in Midland, Michigan, in 1890, organized Midland Chemical Co. in 1892, and formed Dow Chemical Co. in 1897 to manufacture chlorine and caustic soda.⁠[1]

Working in a rented mill building in Midland, Dow extracted bromine from brine by electrolysis, a method patented in 1891 that made the company “the world’s most efficient bromine manufacturer”; locals called him “Crazy Dow.”⁠[2]

Dow began commercial-scale bleach production in 1898. In 1913 H.H. Dow announced an exit from the bleach business, shifting the focus to chlorine as a raw material.⁠[3]

The company’s early sales were mainly bleach and potassium bromide, sold mostly to other chemical manufacturers.⁠[4]

Styrene and Saran were developed in 1928. H.H. Dow died in 1930, and his son Willard H. Dow succeeded him as president. In 1934 the Ethyl-Dow plant began the first commercial extraction of bromine from seawater; in 1937 Dow stock was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1940 Dow bought land near Freeport, Texas, for a plant, later the Western Hemisphere’s largest integrated chemical complex.⁠[5]

One of Dow’s first wartime contracts was with the British, who needed magnesium, produced at the new Freeport plant from seawater. Dow’s first international expansion began in 1942 with Dow Chemical Canada, Ltd.; in 1943 Dow and Corning Glass formed Dow Corning, a silicones joint venture; Asahi-Dow, Ltd. was set up in Japan in 1952; and Saran Wrap for household use followed in 1953.⁠[6]

In 1961 Dow bought a manufacturing site in Terneuzen, the Netherlands. In 1964 its annual sales passed $1 billion and it set up three international headquarters outside Midland: Dow Europe, Dow Latin America and Dow Pacific. Ziploc bags were test-marketed in 1968. In 1973 Dow became the first foreign industrial company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and in 1975 it supplied STYROFOAM insulation for the Alaskan Pipeline.⁠[7]

In the early hours of December 3, 1984, methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a pesticide factory in Bhopal, India; the official death toll exceeded 5,000. In 1989 Union Carbide agreed to an out-of-court settlement of $470 million.⁠[8]

Dow announced plans to acquire Union Carbide in 1999, and the transaction was finalized in 2001.⁠[3]

Union Carbide was the owner of the Bhopal chemical plant, and the acquisition drew Dow into the Bhopal compensation claims.⁠[9]

Andrew Liveris began a tenure of more than 14 years as chairman and CEO in 2004. In 2008 Kuwait canceled its $17 billion deal for the K-Dow Petrochemicals joint venture. In 2009 Dow acquired Rohm and Haas, a key element of its new Advanced Materials division, and in 2011 Dow and Saudi Aramco announced the Sadara Chemical Co. joint venture.⁠[10]

Rohm and Haas was the biggest acquisition in Dow’s history. Under Liveris, Dow also assumed full ownership of Dow Corning.⁠[11]

The merger of Dow and DuPont, under an agreement dated December 11, 2015, became effective on August 31, 2017.⁠[12]

The combined DowDuPont traded on the New York Stock Exchange as DWDP, with Andrew Liveris as executive chairman and Ed Breen as chief executive officer, and planned to separate into Agriculture, Materials Science and Specialty Products companies.⁠[13]

Jim Fitterling became chief executive officer in 2018 and chair of the board in 2020.⁠[14]

Dow Inc. was incorporated under Delaware law on August 30, 2018, to serve as a holding company for The Dow Chemical Company, a wholly owned subsidiary through which it operates all of its businesses.⁠[12]

On March 26, 2019, S&P Dow Jones IndicesS&P Dow Jones IndicesS&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) is a global index provider that compiles and licenses benchmark indices including the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It was formed in 2012 by combining McGraw-Hill’s S&P index business with the Dow Jones Indexes business held by a joint venture of CME Group and Dow Jones, and it is now the index business division of S&P Global, which holds about 73% of the interest.Open the full entry announced that Dow Inc. would join the S&P 500S&P 500The S&P 500 is a U.S. large-cap equity index compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It includes 500 leading companies, covers about 80% of available market capitalization and is described by S&P DJI as “widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities.”Open the full entry and S&P 100 prior to the open on April 2, replacing Brighthouse Financial, which moved to the S&P MidCap 400; its GICS sub-industry is Commodity Chemicals.⁠[15]

The same day it announced that Dow Inc. would replace DowDuPont in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on April 2.⁠[16]

On April 1, 2019, Dow completed its separation from DowDuPont, distributing one Dow share for every three DowDuPont shares, and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as DOW on April 2. It had pro forma 2018 sales of about $50 billion and about 37,000 employees. CEO Jim Fitterling said, “Today marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for Dow.”⁠[17]

On March 14, 2023, a Constitution bench of India’s Supreme Court dismissed the central government’s 2010 plea for Rs 7,844 crore in additional compensation from Union Carbide, finding the 1989 settlement already “in surplus of the actual requirement.” Union Carbide is owned by Dow Inc.⁠[18]

Dow denied liability, saying it bought Union Carbide a decade after it had settled its liabilities with the Indian government.⁠[8]

S&P Dow Jones Indices announced on November 1, 2024, that Sherwin-WilliamsSherwin-WilliamsThe Sherwin-Williams Company is an American paint and coatings company founded in 1866 that sells to professional, industrial, commercial and retail customers and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.Open the full entry would replace Dow Inc. in the Dow Jones Industrial Average before the open on November 8, for more representative materials exposure; Dow Inc. was then the index’s smallest company by market capitalization.⁠[19]

On July 24, 2025, Dow posted a second-quarter loss of $801 million as sales fell, and cut its dividend in half.⁠[20]

As of December 31, 2025, Dow operated manufacturing sites in 29 countries in three operating segments: Packaging & Specialty Plastics, Industrial Intermediates & Infrastructure, and Performance Materials & Coatings. Its wholly owned subsidiary Union Carbide had total asbestos-related liability of $708 million, down from $791 million a year earlier.⁠[21]

For full-year 2025, Dow had net sales of $39,968 million ($42,964 million in 2024) and a net loss available for Dow Inc. common stockholders of $2,623 million, compared with net income of $1,116 million in 2024; it paid $1.5 billion in dividends.⁠[22]

On January 29, 2026, Dow announced Transform to Outperform, a restructuring plan to cut around 4,500 jobs, roughly 13 percent of about 34,600 employees, with greater use of artificial intelligence and automation. It expected one-time costs of $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion, including $600 million to $800 million in severance, and $2 billion in near-term earnings growth.⁠[23]

In April 2026 Dow appointed Karen S. Carter, chief operating officer since December 2024, as chief executive officer effective July 1; Jim Fitterling became executive chair of the board, focusing on long-term strategy, governance and key external relationships.⁠[24]

On October 22, 2026, Dow announced third-quarter 2026 net sales of $11,267 million, up 13% year over year, and net income available for Dow Inc. common stockholders of $458 million, compared with $62 million a year earlier. Its Barry, U.K., siloxanes plant had been shut down, and the first of three European asset shutdowns was complete.⁠[25]