Public Policy: Du Font's Billion Dollar Problem

Convinced that their 44-year-old marriage involved a "tendency'' toward monopoly, the U.S. Supreme Court last week forced a divorce upon two of the nation's industrial giants. In a 4-to-3 decision, the court directed E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. to divest itself within ten years of its 63 million shares of General Motors stock, worth about $2.8 billion at current market prices. The decision was the climax of a twelve-year legal struggle. A lower court had earlier ruled that Du Pont could hold onto its G.M. shares provided it gave up voting rights. The Supreme Court ruling...

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