Law, Business and Society 11th Edition by Tony McAdams

Exercise 33

In the period 1917-19, DuPont acquired 23 percent of the stock in the thenfledgling General Motors Corporation. By 1947 DuPont supplied 68 percent of GM's automotive finish needs and 38 percent of its fabric needs. In 1955 General Motors ranked first in sales and second in assets among all U.S. industrial corporations, while accounting for approximately two-fifths of the nation's annual automobile sales. In 1949 the Justice Department challenged Dupont's 1917-19 acquistions of GM stock.
a. Why did the government challenge DuPont's acquisition
b. May an acquisition be properly challenged 30 years after the fact, as in DuPont Explain.
c. Given your general understanding of finishes and fabrics, how would you defend DuPont
d. Decide. Explain. See United States v. E. I. DuPont de Nemours Co., 353 U.S. 586 (1957).