Earl Bennett was born on January 18, 1880, in White Cloud, Michigan. His father was superintendent of supplies for a lumber company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The family moved to North Carolina in 1896 when the father was transferred to a mining operation in that state.
Bennett took a job as a lumber camp cook at $50 per month for ten months in order to earn money for business school. He attended the Bryant and Stratton School in Chicago and finished its two-year program in nine months.
Bennett went to work at the mail-order department of Marshall Field in Chicago at $5 per week, gaining experience in all of the company's departments over a three-year period by threatening to resign if he were not transferred. In 1900, homesick and unable to afford a trip to North Carolina, Bennett visited his grandmother in Midland, Michigan. While there, he applied for a position with the three-year-old Dow Chemical Company and was hired by the company's founder, Herbert Dow, as an apprentice bookkeeper and office boy. His responsibilities included bookkeeping, picking up mail, and occasionally sweeping out the office. In 1902, he was named company auditor, and by 1907 he had risen to the post of assistant treasurer and assistant secretary, earning $1, 800. At Dow, Bennett became one of a senior management team of four executives under Herbert Dow.
Dow ran the company informally, spending much of his time in its laboratories and supervising production. Bennett became, in effect, the chief financial officer of the corporation. In 1915, the board of directors of Dow Chemical arranged to sell the company to a syndicate of buyers. Before Christmas, Dow and his four senior executives traveled to Cleveland to discuss the offer. Dow told his management team that he would not oppose the sale but would not remain associated with the company. Bennett was the first to announce that he, too, would leave the company and follow Dow. The other three followed suit. With the prospect of losing the five top people in the company, the syndicate abandoned its plan to acquire Dow Chemical.
Dow prospered during World War I, but peace brought unique problems, among them the settlement of claims against the government for production facilities that had been built to meet war needs. Bennett convinced Dow that the company should settle the claims quickly, even if it received less money, in order to close down unnecessary operations and return to peacetime production. His instincts proved correct, and after the war Dow Chemical prospered. Elected to the Dow board of directors in 1925, Bennett held all of the responsibilities of the corporate treasurer, although the title was held by J. C. Crider, a stockholder. Bennett was named a vice-president of the company in 1931 and became treasurer in 1934.
During the mid-1930's, Bennett perceived that Dow Chemical would one day require more financing than was available to the company from Cleveland banks. He began visiting New York City in order to introduce himself to bankers and investment houses. Although many ignored this small man from the Midwest, he began a relationship with the investment banking firm of Smith, Barney that would last for years.
Bennett had a profound impact on the development of styrene, a material that was used in making synthetic rubber during World War II. Willard Dow, son of the founder, who became the head of Dow following the death of his father in 1930, decided in the mid-1930's to end research on styrene, believing it would remain a fruitless quest. The chemists working on the project approached Bennett, who told them he would set up a special account for them if they renamed the project, permitting research to continue until the Dow chemists were successful.
In 1941, Bennett, other executives, and the company were accused by the federal government of a conspiracy to control magnesium production. Willard Dow freely acknowledged that his company had a monopoly, but contended that it was the company's production methods, not a conspiracy, that had led to its monopoly position. The case was never brought to trial. The next year, Dow Chemical embarked on its first foreign venture, working with the Canadian government to manufacture synthetic rubber. Bennett was named to the board of directors of Dow Chemical of Canada.
Bennett was instrumental in providing the capital that enabled Dow to continue to expand following World War II. In 1947, he arranged $105 million in financing through debentures, preferred stock, and private financing. Five years later he devised a financing plan to raise $100 million in subordinated debentures, in effect unsecured loans. The sale of the debentures was handled by Smith, Barney. Following the death of Willard Dow in 1949, Bennett was elected chairman of the board of Dow Chemical, a position he held until 1960. At that time, he was named honorary chairman for life. In 1959, his son, Robert, was named treasurer of Dow Chemical. Bennett stepped down from the company's executive committee in the summer of 1962 and left the board in 1969. He died in Midland, Michigan.
Earl Bennett was a successful businessman. Bennett was known as “the financial wizard of the Dow Chemical Company. ” As he advanced from the lowest rung of the ladder to the highest the company expanded. He spent 69 years with the company, retiring in 1969 as chairman of the board but continuing as honorary chair man.
Bennett was five feet, six inches tall and weighed 110 pounds.
In 1905, Earl Bennett married Eva Barclay; they had eight children.
