Lucius Ordway
Co-founder 1902Background
Lucius Ordway was a Saint Paul, Minnesota merchant whose primary business was plumbing supply before he became the financial backbone of 3M's early survival. He was not a technical innovator or a mining expert; he was a businessman whose combination of capital resources and fundamental belief in the company's potential led him to repeatedly inject personal funds into a venture that more cautious investors had given up on. Ordway's decision to move from passive investor to active financial patron between 1902 and 1914 — committing an estimated $200,000 of personal capital over twelve years — was the single act most responsible for 3M's survival through its founding crisis.
Role at 3M Company
3M, originally known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, was founded in 1902 in Two Harbors, Minnesota, by five businessmen: a doctor, a lawyer, two railroad executives, and a meat market manager. Their initial vision was a disaster. They formed the company to mine corundum, a mineral they believed would be perfect for making grinding wheels. After securing investments and building a mining operation, they discovered that the mineral they were actually mining was anorthosite—which was useless as an abrasive. Facing bankruptcy, the founders pivoted. Instead of mining the raw material, they decided to import better minerals and manufacture sandpaper themselves in Duluth. The turning point for the company, however, did not come from the founders, but from an early employee named William L. McKnight, who joined as an assistant bookkeeper in 1907. McKnight rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming President in 1929 and Chairman in 1949. McKnight redefined the corporate culture of 3M, establishing what became known as 'The McKnight Principles.' McKnight believed that management must 'delegate responsibility and encourage men and women to exercise their initiative.' He famously decreed that mistakes were the necessary byproduct of innovation, stating that management that is 'destructively critical when mistakes are made kills initiative.' This philosophy directly led to 3M's famous '15% Rule,' which allowed employees to spend up to 15% of their paid time working on their own projects. It was this exact policy that allowed a young lab assistant named Richard Drew to invent masking tape in 1925, and later Scotch transparent tape—inventions that saved the company during the Great Depression and transformed 3M into the global materials science juggernaut it is today.