John Ripley Myers (October 8, 1864 – December 22, 1899) was a co-founder (along with William McLaren Bristol) of the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers.
Life John Ripley Myers was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 8, 1864.Hamilton College, The Hamilton Review, March 1900, page 155Rutland Historical Society Quarterly, Volume XIX Number 4, 1989, page 47 His father was John J. Myers (1831–1883), the first president of the Vermont Marble Company, and his mother was Helen Ripley.Yale University, Biographical Record of the Graduates and Former Students of the Yale University School of Forestry, 1913, page 44Robert G. Steele, With Pen or Sword: Lives and Times of the Remarkable Rutland Ripleys, 1979, page 41 The extended Ripley family were active in several Rutland-area businesses and banks, and were wealthy as a result.Erik S. Hinckley and Tom Ledoux, They Went to War: A Biographical Register of the Green Mountain State in the Civil War, 2010, pages 15-16
Helen Ripley (1836–1865) was the half-sister of poet Julia Caroline Dorr and sister of American Civil War officers William Y. W. Ripley and Edward H. Ripley.Rutland Historical Quarterly, The Last of the Rutland Ripleys , Volume XIX, Number 4, 1989, page 47Robert G. Steele, With Pen or Sword: Lives and Times of the Remarkable Rutland Ripleys, 1979, page 41
John Ripley Myers graduated from The Morgan School in Clinton, Connecticut, and then attended Hamilton College. He graduated in 1887, and was a member of Sigma Phi.The Hamilton Review, page 155Sigma Phi Society, Catalogue of the Sigma Phi, 1891, page 504 Myers pursued several business ventures, and then partnered with William McLaren Bristol to purchase the Clinton Pharmaceutical Company in Clinton, New York. Myers and Bristol decided to rename the company Bristol, Myers and Company in 1898.Bert Rosenbloom, Marketing Channels, Bristol-Myers Squibb, 2011, page 609
Myers lived in Brooklyn, New York, while working to make Bristol, Myers profitable. While living in Brooklyn, he was also noted for his philanthropic activities, including contributions to charities sponsored by the New York Herald and New York Tribune, as well as donations to Hamilton College.The Hamilton Review, page 155Hamilton College, Catalogue, 1902, page 52
Bristol, Myers and Company was not instantly profitable, and was still struggling when Myers died of pneumonia in New York City on December 22, 1899.The Pharmaceutical Era magazine, Death notice, John Ripley Myers, December 28, 1899, page 880
Myers never married, and had no children.The Pharmaceutical Era, page 880
Corporate success
Although Myers did not live to see Bristol, Myers and Company become successful, his heirs inherited his shares, and his name remained associated with it. In 1900 the company was renamed Bristol-Myers. Its breakthrough was a product called Sal Hepatica, a laxative mineral salt which proved popular because it reproduced the taste and effects of the natural mineral springs of the famous spas in Bohemia.Jim Cox, Sold on Radio: Advertisers in the Golden Age of Broadcasting, 2008, page 95
The next success for Bristol-Myers was Ipana, a toothpaste with a disinfectant ingredient that was marketed as an effective treatment for bleeding gums.Larry R. Paul, Made in the Twentieth Century: A Guide to Contemporary Collectibles, 2005, page 120Rosenbloom, Marketing Channels, Bristol-Myers Squibb, page 609
In 1929, the heirs of John Ripley Myers put their shares up for sale, and Bristol-Myers timed an initial public offering to coincide with the Myers family sale, turning Bristol-Myers into an international corporation owned by stockholders and adding to the wealth of the Myers heirs.Laura Lee, The Name's Familiar II, 2000, page 58
Bristol-Myers enjoyed sustained international success and eventually merged with a main competitor, Squibb Pharmaceuticals, to produce the company now known as Bristol-Myers Squibb. Bristol-Myers Squibb is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.B. Rajesh Kumar, Mega Mergers and Acquisitions: Case Studies from Key Industries, 2012, page 54
Legacy Myers' stepmother, Mary Ware Hewitt Myers (1848–1942), created the John Ripley Myers Lecture Fund at Hamilton College. The Myers lectures are designed to create discussions on topics that are outside the scope of the standard university curriculum.Hamilton College, Catalogue, 1920, page 70Hamilton College, College Catalogue: Cultural Life, retrieved February 4, 2014
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