In 1933, after his father refused his business plan to build a crude oil refinery, Max Fisher took his idea to Henry E. Wenger, founder of Aurora Gasoline Company, who agreed to invest in the business.
Date:
January 1, 1933
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Beginning in 1929, Henry E. Wenger and William E. Slaughter, Jr. ran the Aurora Gasoline Company from the basement of Wenger's house in Detroit. In 1933, Fisher persuaded Wenger to invest $38,000 to build an oil refinery. Years later when asked how at twenty-five years old Fisher was able to persuade a middle-aged man with a wife and two kids to invest a large sum of money during the Depression, Fisher replied that he "must have hoodwinked him." But Wenger's son says: "My father was a dreamer. And so was Max. They were kindred spirits."
Oil men
Abstract
Beginning in 1929, Henry E. Wenger and William E. Slaughter, Jr. ran the Aurora Gasoline Company from the basement of Wenger's house in Detroit. In 1933, Fisher persuaded Wenger to invest $38,000 to build an oil refinery. Years later when asked how at twenty-five years old Fisher was able to persuade a middle-aged man with a wife and two kids to invest a large sum of money during the Depression, Fisher replied that he "must have hoodwinked him." But Wenger's son says: "My father was a dreamer. And so was Max. They were kindred spirits."
Fisher with Henry E. Wenger and William E. Slaughter, Jr. in the mid-1950s.
Credit: Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation
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Date Range:
1931-1953