1910 : Durant loses control of GM
William C. Durant, carriage maker and entrepreneur, was the original patriarch of the corporate behemoth General Motors (GM). But financial difficulties cost him control of the company on this day. Determined to regain control of his brainchild, Durant joined forces with Louis Chevrolet to establish the Chevrolet Motor Company. Five years later, Durant and Chevrolet acquired control of GM and extended the massive umbrella of the General Motors Corporation, with Durant serving as president. Yet, he would go on to lose control of GM yet again in 1920, this time permanently.