Some companies are so big, we imagine everyone in the world has heard of them. Disney, Apple, Coca-Cola, and Google are just some of the megacorps that rake in billions every year, but weirdly, there's one multi-billion dollar company that most of you likely won't know exists at all. What's even more baffling is that as well as being worth a mere $42 billion, this company is responsible for Thomas Edison's lightbulb and producing the original iPhone. So, why doesn't Corning Inc. get the recognition it deserves?
As reported by Fortune, Corning Inc. famously received an order for Edison's lightbulb back on November 17, 1880. The order still sits in the office of Corning Inc. CEO Wendell Weeks, made out for $311.97.
This was just the start of Corning's journey to Silicon Valley, and in 2007, Steve Jobs tasked the company with making the now-infamous Gorilla Glass that has generated over $20 billion in revenue, is used on over eight billion devices, and has even landed Corning Inc. in hot water due to antitrust actions over its dominance.
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As well as creating the popular kitchen brand called Pyrex, Corning helped power the first televisions with glass tubes, and has manufactured heat-resistant windows for spacecrafts.
It's not all been plain sailing, and while Corning Inc. made it big when its invention of optical fiber pushed its valuation over $100 billion in 2000, its stock price plummeted from $100 to $1 when the internet bubble burst.
Despite over half of the staff being laid off and Weeks saying he'd even stay on as a janitor as a last-ditch attempt to keep his job, optical fiber now accounts for 30% of Corning Inc.'s revenue.
Building its way back up, Corning Inc. has reached a market cap of $41 billion, generated $13 billion in revenue in 2023, and has enjoyed a 50% stock price hike since January 2024.
Those Weeks considers close are Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Apple's former Head of Design, Jony Ive. Bezos himself told Fortune: "My gut is that Wendell was greatly shaped by Corning’s near-death experience. And it has made him a much better leader.”
An ever-evolving artificial intelligence market means the likes of Microsoft are knocking on Corning's door for its new and improved optical fibers that support hyperscale data centers and generative AI.
There's also a $1 billion multi-year deal with AT&T to equip it with next-gen fiber, with Weeks laughing about the company's previous lows: "We were right that ultimately there’d be a lot more fiber required. We were just off by a decade or two."
Despite never having received a science degree, Weeks has amassed an impressive 44 U.S. patents under his belt - including the patent for the crack-resistant Valor Glass Vials used in COVID vaccines.
As for Corning Inc.'s rise from the ashes, it comes from Weeks and former CFO Jim Flaws making three big gambles after the dot-com bubble burst. As well as doubling the money spent on research and development, Corning invested in developing LCD TV displays and created ceramic filters to trap smog and exhaust fumes from trucks.
Nowadays, Corning's focus is building the 'pipes' for generative AI, which if Donald Trump has anything to do with it, could be about to become massive.