Air Liquide History [ Return towards  Who we are  ]

At the company’s origin in 1902, there were 24 shareholders who made it possible for the two founders, Georges Claude and Paul Delorme to create a company, and who displayed two key virtues: patience (they waited until 1907 to receive their first dividend*) and loyalty. For several years they strongly supported the young company by participating in successive capital increases. Air Liquide was created and grew thanks to a first group of shareholders consisting of family, friends and professionals.

On February 20, 1913, Air Liquide was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and gradually became a blue-chip stock. But the company never forgot its roots. It knew that it owed its survival to its shareholders and that is why they have always felt at home at Air Liquide.

Shareholders are the focus of Air Liquide’s strategy, with one objective: increasing the value of shareholder investment through strong, steady growth in earnings and dividends over the long term. And today, a century after its creation, Air Liquide has 380,000 individual shareholders who hold 37% of the capital.