The origin story of Edgewell Personal Care is not a tale of a single founder in a garage, but rather a complex corporate evolution spanning over a century, beginning with the founding of the American Safety Razor Company in 1886, which would eventually become the foundational asset of the modern Edgewell entity. The American Safety Razor Company, later known as ASR, was one of the earliest competitors to King C. Gillette’s dominant safety razor patent, carving out a niche in the early 20th century market by focusing on value-oriented, durable razor designs that appealed to price-conscious consumers. The company’s trajectory was forever altered in the 1920s when it acquired the innovations of Colonel Jacob Schick, a retired U.S. Army officer who had invented the first dry razor and subsequently revolutionized the wet shaving market with his innovative magazine-fed repeating razor and the first double-edge injector blade. The Schick brand quickly became synonymous with quality and innovation, and the merged entity, operating under the American Safety Razor umbrella, grew to become the second-largest player in the global wet shave market, trailing only Gillette. For decades, ASR and Schick operated as a standalone public company, navigating the ups and downs of the consumer staples industry, until the late 20th century when a series of private equity buyouts and corporate restructurings left the company vulnerable to acquisition. In the early 2000s, Energizer Holdings, best known for its dominant position in the battery market, acquired the personal care assets of ASR, recognizing the stable, high-margin, repeat-purchase nature of the razor blade business as a perfect complement to its seasonal battery sales. Energizer subsequently embarked on an aggressive acquisition spree, purchasing the Edge and Skintimate shaving gel brands in 2009, and then acquiring the entire American Safety Razor Company and its Personna brand in 2011 for $301 million, consolidating its control over the wet shaving category. However, as the battery market began to face structural decline due to the rise of lithium-ion technology and private-label competition, Energizer’s management realized that the conglomerate structure was suppressing the value of its personal care assets, which were growing steadily but being masked by the volatility of the battery business. This realization culminated in the decision to execute a tax-free spin-off of its personal care division, a complex corporate restructuring that officially separated the grooming and sun care brands from the battery business on July 1, 2015. The newly independent company was initially named Energizer Holdings, but to avoid consumer confusion with the spun-off battery company (which retained the Energizer name), it was quickly renamed Edgewell Personal Care, a name chosen to evoke a sense of precision, edge, and well-being. The 2015 spin-off marked the birth of Edgewell as a standalone public entity, but its true origin story is deeply rooted in the century-long legacy of the American Safety Razor Company and the innovative spirit of Colonel Jacob Schick, whose foundational patents and brand equity continue to drive the company’s success in the modern global personal care market.