Monsanto

For other uses, see Monsanto (disambiguation).

Monsanto Company
Company typePublic
NYSE: MON
IndustryAgribusiness
FoundedSeptember 26, 1901; 123 years ago (1901-09-26)
Reformed in 2000 (spun off from Pharmacia & Upjohn)
FounderJohn Francis Queeny
DefunctJune 7, 2018; 6 years ago (2018-06-07)
FateAcquired by Bayer
HeadquartersCreve Coeur, Missouri, U.S.
Key people
  • Hugh Grant
  • (Chairman, President, & CEO)
  • Pierre Courduroux
  • (Vice President & CFO)
Products
ParentPharmacia & Upjohn (1999–2000)
Footnotes / references
[1]

The Monsanto Company (/mɒnˈsæntoʊ/) was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in the 1970s. Later, the company became a major producer of genetically engineered crops. In 2018, the company ranked 199th on the Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue.[2]

Monsanto was one of four groups to introduce genes into plants in 1983,[3] and was among the first to conduct field trials of genetically modified crops in 1987. It was one of the top-ten U.S. chemical companies until it divested most of its chemical businesses between 1997 and 2002, through a process of mergers and spin-offs that focused the company on biotechnology.

Monsanto was one of the first companies to apply the biotechnology industry business model to agriculture, using techniques developed by biotech drug companies.[4]: 2–6  In this business model, companies recoup R&D expenses by exploiting biological patents.[5][6][7][8]

Monsanto's roles in agricultural changes, biotechnology products, lobbying of government agencies, and roots as a chemical company have resulted in controversies. The company once manufactured controversial products such as the insecticide DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, and recombinant bovine growth hormone.

In September 2016, German chemical company Bayer announced its intent to acquire Monsanto for US$66 billion in an all-cash deal.[9] After gaining U.S. and EU regulatory approval, the sale was completed on June 7, 2018. The name Monsanto was no longer used, but Monsanto's previous product brand names were maintained.[10][11][12] In June 2020, Bayer agreed to pay numerous settlements in lawsuits involving ex-Monsanto products Roundup, PCBs and Dicamba.[13] Owing to the massive financial and reputational blows caused by ongoing litigation concerning Monsanto's herbicide Roundup, the Bayer-Monsanto merger is considered one of the worst corporate mergers in history.[14][15][16][17]

  1. ^ "US SEC: Form 10-K Monsanto Company". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  2. ^ "Fortune 500 Companies 2018". fortune.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  3. ^ "The race towards the first genetically modified plant". Plant Biotech News. June 19, 2013. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  4. ^ Dorothy Leonard-Barton, Gary P. Pisano. January 29, 1990. Harvard Business Review: Case Studies. Monsanto's March into Biotechnology
  5. ^ "Competition Issues in the Seed Industry and the Role of Intellectual Property". Choicesmagazine.org. November 21, 2009. Archived from the original on March 2, 2013.
  6. ^ Schneider, Keith (June 10, 1990) Betting the Farm on Biotech. The New York Times.
  7. ^ Burrone, Esteban (2006) Patents at the Core: the Biotech Business Archived October 24, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. WIPO
  8. ^ Economic Research Service/USDA The Seed Industry in U.S. Agriculture: An Exploration of Data and Information on Crop Seed Markets, Regulation, Industry Structure, and Research and Development Archived November 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Bomey, Nathan. "Big deal: Bayer getting Monsanto for $66B". USA TODAY.
  10. ^ "Bayer Closes Monsanto Deal to Cap $63 Billion Transformation". Bloomberg.com. June 7, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  11. ^ "With deal to close this week, Bayer to retire Monsanto name". Reuters. June 4, 2018.
  12. ^ Bomey, Nathan. "Monsanto shedding name: Bayer acquisition leads to change for environmental lightning rod". USA TODAY.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference bayerpays was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Sherman, Ruth Bender | Graphics by Merrill (August 28, 2019). "How Bayer-Monsanto Became One of the Worst Corporate Deals—in 12 Charts". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  15. ^ "Worst deal ever? Bayer's market cap now close to the total cost it paid for Monsanto". FiercePharma. August 29, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  16. ^ Randazzo, Sara (February 3, 2021). "Bayer Tries Again to Limit Roundup Liability". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  17. ^ Farrell, Maureen (December 6, 2023). "Years After Monsanto Deal, Bayer's Roundup Bills Keep Piling Up". The New York Times. Retrieved December 6, 2023.