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Watch Those Eggs. The man appointed by fate, birth and the close councils of the family to lead Du Pont is a shy introvert named Lammot du Pont Copeland. A great-great-grandson of Founder Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, Copeland, 59, shows many of the family characteristics. He lives in a baronial style that has almost disappeared from the U.S., yet works in an unpretentious office whose door bears neither his name nor title. From his late mother and her three brothers—Pierre, Irenee and Lammot du Pont—he inherited not only a prominent nose and poor hearing (he sometimes turns off his hearing aid when bored) but most of his 195,737 shares of Du Pont and 249,694 shares of Christiana Securities, the family-run holding company that in turn has 29% of Du Pont stock. These two investments alone are worth $114 million to Copeland, who made a paper profit of $3,500,000 in one week recently when Du Pont stock jumped 18 points (it is now selling at 231¾).
Besides being the largest single owner of Du Pont and one of the richest men in America, Copeland is also a chemist and a financial expert who believes in Andrew Carnegie's dictum: "Put all your eggs in one basket, and watch them." Fiercely loyal to the closely woven clan and its company, Copeland believes, in the best big-business tradition, that Du Pont has a duty to do a great deal more than make money for its 240,000 stockholders. As he sees it, the firm that his family founded needs to set the pace for others in opening new frontiers of knowledge. "It's fascinating," he says, "to speculate on the impact the things you make have on society."
Subtly or dramatically, Du Pont has made a considerable impact on the nation's language and life. Besides nylon, Dacron and cellophane, the firm has contributed a whole lexicon of names, many of which sound like something right out of science fiction. While a man dons his suit of orlon and his socks of Spandex in the morning, his wife may be wriggling into a Lycra girdle, an Antron slip, Cantrece hose—or the Warner "body stocking," a new fashion rage made of Du Font's stretch nylon.
The family's clothes are probably dry-cleaned with Du Pont Perclene, waterproofed with Zelan, bleached with Oxone. Their food comes in packages that are glued together with Elvacet and wrapped in Mylar, stored in a refrigerator cooled by Freon and cooked on a greaseless griddle coated with Teflon. Their car may be finished with Lucite, their furniture lacquered with
Duco, their house color-coated and waterproofed with Tedlar, their crab grass killed with Oust.