Direct Answer
3M was founded on June 13, 1902, in Two Harbors, Minnesota, as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company by five businessmen who planned to mine abrasive minerals. The mine proved worthless, and the company pivoted to sandpaper manufacturing. Over the following century, 3M employees invented masking tape (1925), Scotch cellophane tape (1930), the first U.S. magnetic audio tape (1948), and Post-it Notes (commercially launched 1980). 3M joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1964 and was listed on the NYSE in 1950. In 2024, 3M spun off its healthcare business as Solventum Corporation (NYSE: SOLV), and the company settled major litigation over Combat Arms Earplugs ($6.0 billion, 2023) and PFAS contamination ($10.3 billion, 2023).
Origins
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company was incorporated on June 13, 1902, in Two Harbors, Minnesota, by five businessmen: Henry Bryan, Hermon Cable, John Dwan, William McGonagle, and Danley Budd. Their original plan was to mine corundum, an abrasive mineral used in grinding wheels, from a deposit they believed they had identified near Two Harbors. The deposit turned out to be anorthosite, a mineral with no industrial abrasive value. Facing a failed mining venture, the founders shifted strategy and began making sandpaper products using abrasives purchased from other suppliers.
The company moved to Duluth, Minnesota in 1910 as it began establishing sandpaper manufacturing operations. Financial difficulties persisted for years; the company nearly failed multiple times in its first decade. By 1916, 3M had stabilized enough to move its headquarters to St. Paul, Minnesota, where the company has remained ever since. The early sandpaper business gave 3M its core competency in adhesives and coatings, which became the foundation for a long series of product innovations.
Key milestones
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| June 13, 1902 | Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company founded in Two Harbors, Minnesota |
| 1910 | Company moves to Duluth, Minnesota; sandpaper manufacturing established |
| 1916 | Headquarters moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, the current headquarters location |
| 1920 | Wetordry waterproof sandpaper developed, 3M's first major patented invention; adopted by automotive industry for paint finishing |
| 1925 | Richard Drew, a 3M lab employee, invents masking tape; sold initially to auto body shops for clean paint edges |
| 1929 | William McKnight becomes president; institutes culture of employee innovation including what would become the "15% time" policy |
| 1930 | Richard Drew invents Scotch Cellophane Tape; initially marketed to Depression-era consumers for repairing items rather than buying new ones |
| 1948 | 3M introduces the first magnetic audio recording tape commercially available in the United States; used by Bing Crosby for radio program recording |
| 1950 | 3M listed on the New York Stock Exchange |
| 1964 | 3M added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average |
| 1968 | Spencer Silver, a 3M chemist, discovers a weak, repositionable adhesive while attempting to develop a stronger one |
| 1974 | Art Fry, a 3M colleague of Silver, conceives the self-stick bookmark application using Silver's adhesive; Post-it Note concept formed |
| 1979 | Thinsulate thermal insulation commercially launched, originally developed in 1968 |
| 1980 | Post-it Notes launched commercially across the United States after a 1977 test market in Boise, Idaho; product becomes one of the most successful office supplies ever |
| 1999 | "3M" officially adopted as the company's brand name, replacing Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company in public usage |
| 2001 | W. James McNerney becomes CEO, the first from outside 3M's traditional succession path; implements Six Sigma disciplines across the company |
| 2020 | COVID-19 pandemic creates unprecedented demand for 3M N95 respirators; 3M substantially increases production capacity |
| August 2023 | 3M agrees to $6.0 billion settlement to resolve Combat Arms Earplugs mass tort litigation involving hundreds of thousands of U.S. veterans |
| 2023 | 3M agrees to $10.3 billion settlement with U.S. public water utilities over PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance) contamination claims |
| April 1, 2024 | 3M spins off healthcare business as Solventum Corporation (NYSE: SOLV); 3M retains approximately 19.9 percent stake initially |
| May 2024 | Bill Brown becomes CEO, succeeding Mike Roman |
| 2024 | 3M reduces quarterly dividend from $1.51 to $0.70 per share following Solventum spinoff, ending a 66-year consecutive annual dividend increase streak |
CEO timeline
| CEO | Tenure |
|---|---|
| William McKnight | 1929 to 1966 (long-tenured leader who built 3M into a global company; instituted employee innovation time policy) |
| Bert Cross | 1966 to 1970 |
| Harry Heltzer | 1970 to 1975 |
| Ray Herzog | 1975 to 1979 |
| Lew Lehr | 1979 to 1986 |
| Allen Jacobson | 1986 to 1991 |
| Livio DeSimone | 1991 to 2001 |
| W. James McNerney | 2001 to 2005 (later became CEO of Boeing) |
| George Buckley | 2005 to 2012 |
| Inge Thulin | 2012 to 2018 |
| Mike Roman | 2018 to 2024 |
| Bill Brown | 2024 to present |
Four eras of 3M history
Founding and abrasives era (1902 to 1925)
3M's first two decades were defined by failure and survival. The original corundum mining venture collapsed immediately when the deposit proved worthless, forcing the founders to pivot to purchasing abrasive materials from suppliers and using them to make sandpaper. The company nearly went bankrupt multiple times. Investor Lucius Ordway provided the capital that kept 3M alive through the worst of the early years. The move to St. Paul in 1916 gave the company more stable operating conditions, and the 1920 introduction of Wetordry waterproof sandpaper represented the first real commercial breakthrough. Wetordry allowed automotive painters to sand between paint coats without creating dust that would ruin the finish, and the automotive industry adopted it rapidly. This success established 3M's model of solving a specific industrial problem through chemical and materials science.
Tape and innovation era (1925 to 1960)
Richard Drew's invention of masking tape in 1925 transformed 3M from a sandpaper company into an adhesive products company. Drew, a laboratory employee sent to deliver sandpaper samples to auto body shops, noticed that painters struggled to create clean two-tone paint edges. He developed a tape with pressure-sensitive adhesive that could be applied and removed cleanly. The product found immediate commercial use. Five years later, Drew invented Scotch Cellophane Tape by applying adhesive to cellophane, a packaging material. Marketed during the Great Depression as a way to repair items rather than replace them, cellophane tape became one of the most recognized consumer products of the twentieth century.
William McKnight, who became CEO in 1929, shaped 3M's innovation culture over nearly four decades. McKnight encouraged employees to devote a portion of their working time to self-directed projects, a policy that became formalized as what later generations described as "15% time." This culture produced the magnetic audio tape introduced in 1948. Bing Crosby, who wanted to pre-record his radio programs rather than perform them live, became an early and prominent user of 3M magnetic tape, and his endorsement helped establish 3M's tape as the broadcast industry standard. 3M listed on the NYSE in 1950 and joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1964, reflecting its growth into a large, diversified industrial company.
Diversification and Post-it Notes era (1960 to 2000)
Spencer Silver's 1968 discovery of a weak, repositionable adhesive was initially a solution looking for a problem. The adhesive could stick paper to surfaces and be peeled off without leaving residue, but Silver could not identify a market application within 3M's existing product lines. Art Fry, a colleague who sang in a church choir, found the application in 1974 when his bookmarks kept slipping from his hymnal. He applied Silver's adhesive to paper strips, creating a self-stick bookmark that could be repositioned. After internal resistance and a 1977 test market in Boise, Idaho, 3M launched Post-it Notes nationally in 1980. The product became one of the most successful office products ever introduced, generating hundreds of millions in annual sales and spawning an entire category of repositionable note products.
The 1990s brought expansion in healthcare and safety divisions. 3M's N95 respirator, developed over years of work in filtration materials, received its NIOSH certification and entered industrial and healthcare markets. The "3M" brand name was formally adopted in 1999, replacing the unwieldy Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company in all public communications, though the legal name persisted in regulatory filings.
Restructuring, litigation, and spinoff era (2001 to present)
W. James McNerney joined 3M as CEO in 2001 after a career at General Electric, bringing Six Sigma process discipline to a company that had prided itself on organic innovation. His tenure generated short-term cost savings but was criticized internally for reducing the experimental freedom that had produced 3M's most successful products. McNerney left in 2005 to lead Boeing, and George Buckley subsequently shifted the company back toward its innovation-led roots.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 thrust 3M's N95 respirator program into global attention. 3M was one of a small number of manufacturers capable of producing N95 respirators at scale, and the company significantly increased output during the pandemic. The surge in demand also brought accusations of price gouging and gray market activity, though 3M consistently maintained its direct-to-government pricing and pursued legal action against distributors it alleged were operating outside authorized channels.
Two major litigation settlements defined 3M's early 2020s. The Combat Arms Earplugs litigation involved claims from hundreds of thousands of U.S. veterans who alleged that dual-ended combat earplugs, issued by the military from approximately 2003 to 2015, were defectively designed and caused hearing loss or tinnitus. 3M contested the claims for years in a bellwether trial process but ultimately agreed in August 2023 to a $6.0 billion settlement. Separately, 3M agreed in June 2023 to a $10.3 billion settlement with U.S. municipal water utilities over contamination with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, chemicals used in products including Scotchgard and various industrial applications.
On April 1, 2024, 3M completed the spinoff of its health care business as Solventum Corporation, which began trading on the NYSE under the ticker SOLV. Health care had contributed roughly 25 percent of 3M's revenues. The spinoff was structured as a tax-free distribution to 3M shareholders, with 3M initially retaining approximately 19.9 percent of Solventum. As a consequence of the spinoff and the resulting change in the company's cash flow profile, 3M reduced its quarterly dividend from $1.51 per share to $0.70 per share, ending a 66-year streak of consecutive annual dividend increases and removing 3M from the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats and Dividend Kings lists. Bill Brown succeeded Mike Roman as CEO in May 2024 and has outlined a strategy focused on the company's industrial, safety, and consumer divisions following the healthcare separation.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was 3M founded?
3M was founded on June 13, 1902, in Two Harbors, Minnesota, as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company by five businessmen: Henry Bryan, Hermon Cable, John Dwan, William McGonagle, and Danley Budd. The company's original plan was to mine corundum for grinding wheels, but the mineral deposit proved worthless. The company pivoted to making sandpaper products and moved to Duluth in 1910, then to St. Paul in 1916, where it has remained headquartered ever since.
Who invented Post-it Notes?
Post-it Notes emerged from the work of two 3M employees. Spencer Silver discovered a weak, repositionable adhesive in 1968 while trying to develop a stronger adhesive. Art Fry, a colleague, found a use for it in 1974 when he wanted a bookmark that would stay in his hymnal pages without damaging them. 3M launched Post-it Notes commercially in 1980 after a 1977 test market in Boise, Idaho, and the product became one of the most successful office products in history.
What were the Combat Arms Earplugs lawsuits against 3M?
3M's Combat Arms Earplugs were issued to U.S. military personnel from approximately 2003 to 2015. Hundreds of thousands of veterans filed lawsuits alleging the dual-ended earplugs were defectively designed and caused hearing loss or tinnitus because the design allowed them to loosen imperceptibly in the ear canal during use. 3M contested liability through a bellwether trial process but agreed in August 2023 to a $6.0 billion settlement to resolve the mass tort litigation, one of the largest product liability settlements in U.S. history.
Why did 3M spin off Solventum in 2024?
3M spun off its healthcare business as Solventum Corporation on April 1, 2024, trading on the NYSE under the ticker SOLV. 3M initially retained approximately 19.9 percent of Solventum. The spinoff separated 3M's health care segment, which had generated roughly 25 percent of total company revenues, from its industrial and consumer businesses. Management stated the separation would allow each business to pursue its distinct market opportunities independently. The spinoff also ended 3M's 66-year streak of consecutive annual dividend increases, as the post-spinoff quarterly dividend was reduced from $1.51 to $0.70 per share.